I want to know what you think/ talk to me

[Ifayomi]

Are we fiddling while Rome burns?
The Digital Divide is Large and Not Disappearing


There is a great danger of creating a permanent underclass of Americans -- those not connected to the Internet at home.

In an article for The Center for American Progress, Mark Lloyd wrote urging Congress to take steps to address the digital divide -- Congress Needs to Address the Digital Divide – 2005. In his article, he shares some startling realities that remove the mask from what seems to be progress in closing the Digital Divide.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund released a new study of the most comprehensive database focused on home computer and Internet use, “Are We Really a Nation Online? Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Access to Technology and Their Consequences.” The study was conducted by Dr. Robert Fairlie of the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2005. What Dr. Fairlie found was dramatically different than what NTIA reported in November 2004 -- specifically: The digital divide is large and does not appear to be disappearing soon. Blacks and Latinos are much less likely to have access to home computers than are white, non-Latinos (50.6 and 48.7 percent compared to 74.6 percent). They are also less likely to have Internet access at home (40.5 and 38.1 percent compared to 67.3 percent).

Slightly more than half of all black and Latino children have access to a home computer and approximately 40 percent have access to the Internet at home (compared to 85.5 and 77.4 percent of white, non- Latino children). Ethnic and racial disparities in home computer and Internet access rates are larger for children than for adults.

Income differences are partly, but not entirely responsible for ethnic and racial disparities in computer and Internet access. Even among individuals with family incomes of at least $60,000, blacks and Latinos are substantially less likely to own a computer or have Internet access at home than are whites.

Those of us in the Black community who use and leverage the Internet for our success and survival need to begin thinking about ways we can address this issue. IT IS OUR HOUSE THAT IS ON FIRE! IT IS OUR COMMUNITY THAT IS BURNING and BEING DESTROYED!!

"This creates incredible barriers for minorities,'' said Mark Lloyd, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an expert on how communications influence civil rights.

Not using the Internet ``narrows their ability to even think about the kind of work they can be doing,'' Lloyd said. ``It doesn't prepare them for a world in which they're going to be expected to know how to do these things.''

Virtually all U.S. schools are connected to the Internet. The gaps in Internet usage between whites and minorities, though sizable, are smaller during the school day.

That's not the case at home. A total of 54 percent of white students use the Internet at home, compared with 26 percent of Hispanic and 27 percent of black youngsters. Limited access can erode a student's ability to research assignments, explore college scholarships or just get comfortable going online.

Kids use the Internet most often for completing school assignments, the new study says. But they also count on it for e-mail, sending instant messages and playing games.

The racial divide in computer usage is tied to broader problems, including poverty in black and Latino communities and even a cultural reluctance to use the Internet, Lloyd said.

Mark Lloyd is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress focusing on communications policy issues, including universal service, advanced telecommunications deployment, media concentration and diversity.

This article is a clarion call for solutions that we can take to the streets, right into the homes and families most affected by this divide. If we fail to act, there will be a permanent underclass of citizens left on the wrong side of the digital divide, and most of them with be Black families and their children. As we start a new school year, it is critical that we make a connection between our children’s education and the role of technology if they are to keep up in the Information Age.

We need to stop and smell the fire burning, and answer the call in our local communities to help our families, to save our children from being doomed to permanent underclass status in the Global Village.

Roger Madison
CEO, iZania

[Sumyr]

Good post! This is a problem in our communities, although small, as compared to other problems we face.

About two years ago, school had just started. Over the course of two months, I noticed that several neighborhood kids were frequenting my house several nights a week to use my computer. They didn't have computers in their homes. One night it really bugged me, not because the child wanted to use the computer, but because of the nature of the assignment given by the teacher. This child was in the 6th grade and the assignment was for the child to create a Microsoft Power Point slideshow. Those of you familar with computers will know that there are many adults that have been in business for years that can't even accomplish this.

I read the assignment and there were instructions to add all types of features and bulleted points, etc. The child didn't know the first thing about this program or its features. I read further and it said it was not mandatory, but for extra credit. I still was mad because this child needed the extra credit but couldn't perform it on his own, but with my help. So, in essence I would have been the one earning the extra credit instead of the child as the child couldn't do the assignment.

I don't think the teacher, in this case, considered that not all homes are equal and can afford the luxuries of a computer. Should little "Mike" suffer because his parents are not able to afford a computer??? They should issue assignments that (A) are considerate of all children regardless of their financial situations and (B) that are age appropriate for the child.

[Ifayomi]

Mo dupe Sumyr for your input, this is helpful to me, as I was trying to think about it. You have caused me to notice something that I ahve taken for granted. My children always come home with assignments they must do on a computer. And as you stated many homes are without. the library in my hood clses at 5 so that would really leave many out. So this is actually something that is affecting us. And as I said now, since your post the light has went on in my head
Mo dupe
Osunkoya-Ifayomi

[Samoon]

True. The digital divide DOES exist in many Black homes, and the percentage is higher in families that have lower incomes. There is a Foundation that I read about....five or six years ago...that donates pc's to kids/families in need. I'm sorry that I cannot recall the name of the foundation, but perhaps a search on the 'net may help. At the time of my reading the article, I made several copies of the article and passed around to just about everyone.

But yes, there are Foundations/Philanthropists/Organizations, etc. that donate to children, even in the arena of Foster Care for high school teens and those that are headed off to college, for example.

[cwhurd]

This is why it is so important for those of us who do have a computer need to find ways to improve our overall situation as a people. It is too bad that we countinue to fall behind in things that can improve our situation as a prople. We have a lot of work to do. I really feel our ancestors would be very disapponited in us, simply because all the sacrifice that they have made for many of us to be able to enjoy good things in our lives. Eventully we all are going to have to do our part to help improve our issues, until then many of our people will always be left behind.






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