Misunderstanding Race and the Digital Divide

[Commentary] What is to blame for digital age inequality? The digital divide behind door number one? Or the digital divide behind door number two? These seem like silly questions. That’s because they are. But no matter what the reason is, some advocates always manage to find a way to misunderstand the lifestyle choices of people of color.

On December 3rd, The New York Times published an op-Ed by Susan Crawford, a long time net neutrality advocate, professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of law, and former special assistant to President Obama on science, technology, and innovation policy. Crawford wrote that smartphones—the devices that African-Americans and Latinos overwhelmingly prefer for accessing the internet—provide a “second class” tier of Internet service, as compared to the high-speed wired internet access that middle-class urbanites and suburbanites are able to enjoy via computers connected directly to the Internet. In a blog post in Colorlines—a blog focusing on issues affecting minorities—Colorlines News Editor Jamilah King reiterated Crawford’s thesis, then went the extra mile of calling out the NAACP and National Urban League for taking funding from telecommunications companies like AT&T and Sprint. The problem with Crawford and King’s approach is that they cast wireless broadband and smartphones in their worst possible light. High-speed broadband and wireless broadband each have a distinct set of unique advantages over the other, making neither of them superior to the other in all respects. If wireless were a substitute for high speed internet access, there would be no competition.

High-speed internet access and bandwidth are absolutely essential for supporting American innovation in Silicon Valley. But commoditizing minorities to bolster that underlying argument is patently irresponsible. There is no “new” digital divide—we are faced with the same digital divide that we have been faced with since at least 1940. Wireless broadband has helped to close part of that gap, but we still have a long way to go.