Blog 4: Race, Ethnicity and The Internet

February 23, 2009 cindymendes
Tags: anonymity, democracy, internet, racism, segregation

The internet is often used as a gateway for people to secure anonymity, which provides them with confidence and lowers their inhibitions. It can remove the possibility of discrimination, evening out the playing field for all. The internet creates a sense of intimacy between strangers, allowing random individuals to act beyond their normal behaviour, often eradicating the fear of consequences and generating a sense of bravado. This can be very beneficial to many minority groups; however, it can also be incredibly detrimental. With inventions such as the web cam, streaming videos and many social networking sites, anonymity on the internet seems almost improbable. Any individual who does not state their race, gender or provide a picture for its audience is often viewed as a fraud, and will be received with disdain by other internet users. What does this mean for the 21st century internet users?

With a lowered sense of inhibition and an increase in confidence, many people often act outside their normal behaviour. In fact, the internet still provides individuals with an anonymous outlet, that is, individuals are still able to communicate ideas without a sense of consequence or moral implication. Their audience and they themselves however, no longer remain unidentified. This helps increase the mediums in which hate speech can occur and also aids in dividing society through race and ethnic identities.

Post 9/11 created a surge of online hate speech practices through blogs, videos and audio streaming. Rather than uniting individuals, internet users were divided by race and ethnicity. The media was used to foster hate towards several minority groups, diminishing intelligent individuals to mindless fools simply by creating an anonymous forum. Society can also be divided by groups and forums such as: The Asian Forum, The Black Club, and many others where outsiders are forbidden and excluded.

The internet can initiate a tribal perspective and attitude, where hate speech and colonial legacy is often argued for white supremacy. Digital technology gives access to racism and needs to be monitored closely in order to avoid society backtracking to our old ways. Online social networks must be socially conscious and create a sort of digital democracy, where each post, picture, etc. are closely monitored in order to minimize discrimination and racism.

The internet can also be used to greatly benefit minority groups. It creates an untraditional learning environment where both critical discourse and active learning can occur. Whereas it can spread lies and hate, it can also increase and promote digital democracy through public spheres which advocate for minority groups. It can give access to a wider range of material and information which can often be difficult to access from traditional classrooms.

Race and ethnicity are two critical issues that must be considered when examining the internet and the public and anonymous forums it provides. Despite the many advances our society has made in order to achieve democracy and equality, hate speech and racialized online communities continue to exist. Asian-Avenue.com, Blackplanet.com, and Miguente.com, all continue to exist and it is important to understand the reasons why. The internet should be used to unify society, rather than segregate.

Entry Filed under: Technology Benefits and Dangers

4 Comments Add your own

• 1. roxanna  |  February 23, 2009 at 3:54 pm

  pfft at the dickwad theory

• 2. Nicole  |  February 23, 2009 at 4:20 pm

  I completely agree. I think the internet is both bad and good. pretty much 100% of people lie on the internet about every aspect of themselfs which helps people who have low self esteem or want things to be different. But, its bad for the people on the other side who believe that these people are real which can result in deaths and other bad things.
  I know I’ve said alot on the internet that I would never say outloud. It helps me voice my anger because I’m a pretty shy person.

• 3. Els  |  February 23, 2009 at 4:49 pm

  brilliantly written!

• 4. Melissa  |  March 1, 2009 at 8:02 pm

  I agree with Nicole completely.

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