Technology and the Black Experience
From the foundation of the United States, race has been an issue founded on the desire of white men for power and economic stability. Through time, the “hierarchy” of races has been re-established and strengthened with changes in society and institutions. Furthermore, “an analysis of material technologies allows us to observe how the very category of “race” is made visible and legitimated.” We see this relationship in the examination of new technologies, and the use of technologies in racial movements. From X-rays in the early 1900’s to Social Media in the modern Black Lives Matter movement, a strong tie is seen between changes in technology and the black experience.
Through the majority of the 20th century, technologies were designed with the white user in mind, as we see through marketing strategies and campaigns, even in the modern day, showing and targeting only white families. As we have transitioned to a more tolerant and open society, technologies are being angled toward black communities, yet the problems of inequality and prejudices still hold. It is not the end user of the technologies that create racial tension, but the use of technologies as a tool to highlight difference.
- de la Pea, Carolyn Thomas. “"bleaching the Ethiopian": Desegregating Race and Technology Through Early X-ray Experiments”. Technology and Culture 47.1 (2006): 27–55. Web.