Race and the Digital Divide

I found some statistics about race and the digital divide in the US. These statistics are from a study done at UC Santa Cruz in 2003. Data shows how certain ethnic groups are more likely to have a computer at home and/or access to the internet. Here are some of the statistics that caught my attention.

• Language is an important determinant of computer ownership and Internet use even after controlling for education, family income and immigrant status. Spanish-speaking Latinos, especially Mexicans, have strikingly low rates of computer ownership and home Internet use.
• 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).
• Among Latino groups, Mexicans have the lowest home computer and Internet access rates followed by Central and South Americans who have the next lowest rates. Although Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Other Latinos have higher rates, all Latino groups are less likely to own a computer or have Internet access at home than are white, non-Latinos.
• 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.
• Roughly 1 out of 7 blacks and 1 out of 8 Latinos subscribe to broadband at home, compared to 26.1 percent of whites. One third of Asians and roughly 1 out of 8 Native Americans have broadband at home.

While the study did not provided any evidence of institutional racism being in correlation with access to technology, these stats did shows how different communities have access to computers. Another thing that the study failed to clarify is that these communities did not have computers because they could not benefit from one. For example, the study found that many families of color that make about $60,000 a year did not have computers at home. These middle class american families are able to afford a computer, but it is unclear why they do not have one.

Source: http://www.freepress.net/files/lccrdigitaldivide.pdf

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