National civil rights organization leaders Marc Morial (National Urban League) and Reverend Al Sharpton (National Action Network) are cautiously celebrating the Federal Communication Commission’s recent vote to adopt rules to prevent and eliminate digital discrimination of access to broadband services based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin.
Their caution is well-founded since the digital divide has existed for far too long, even with various national and local efforts to bridge the divide.
“Years ago, we would never think to bring a TV into a restaurant, but now we have technology at every turn. But if you don’t have that access, that creates a chasm that’s hard for people to cross.”
Tracie Jae
That caution was on full display earlier this year as Children at Risk (C@R) hosted the 2023 Future of Children Summit, searching for actions we can take today to make that future more supportive.
A C@R statement read, “Innovation, creativity and hope are critical components to shaping a brighter future for the kids of tomorrow.”
Presenters reflected on conversations taking place in the general public about the critical nature of technology in connecting young minds to new ideas, resources and collaborators across the globe.
CAUTION & CALL-TO-ACTION
But like Tracie Jae, the lead rebel of the entity The Quiet Rebel, and Sharon Watkins Jones, C@R’s chief equity officer, point out, how will these innovations profit Black and Latinx children if the digital divide is allowed to continue its existence?
“In Texas, over two million households don’t have access to high-speed internet, and that’s urban and rural areas, especially the rural areas,” said Watkins Jones. “What this means regarding families and equity, Black and Brown families are suffering the most, and through this digital divide, they have a lack of access to telemedicine, digital learning tools and minority-owned small businesses are stifled when in areas of limited access to high-speed internet. And we’re finding that it’s a necessity, not a luxury.”
“Years ago, we would never think to bring a TV into a restaurant, but now we have technology at every turn,” shared Jae. “But if you don’t have that access, that creates a chasm that’s hard for people to cross.”
Jae and Watkins Jones agreed that individuals who are Gen Z and younger “feel entitled to those things they desire,” creating in them the belief that they have every right to the things white young people want, creating in these present and future Black and Brown children a desire to fight for equity with even more commitment and ferocity than members of generations past.
That fighting spirit is going to be needed to add to current local efforts to bridge the digital divide.
LOCAL EFFORTS
Local efforts to confront the digital divide in Harris County include the following:
· Bridging The Digital Divide (BDD) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to enhance the academic and technology skills of our nation’s youth and adults, thereby bridging the academic, economic and social divides that exist throughout low, to moderate-income communities. The strategy is to provide every family in America, in spite of their socio-economic status, with an internet-accessible computer, along with educational software, to help reach their full potential.
· Tech donations like those made by AT&T and Compudopt that collaborated to provide more than 100 free laptops for Jack Yates High School students in March.
· Comcast’s commitment to give more than $1 million to local organizations that help students, adults, and people with disabilities to ‘level up’ their computer, career development and tech education skills.
· The Harris County Office of Broadband, founded in Nov. 2020, exists to “execute equitable and resilient broadband availability through the engagement of stakeholders, community partners and residents. One way they do this is by offering a clearinghouse of information on digital literacy, digital equity and digital financial resources on their website. They have also made available over 100 free public wi-fi locations across the county.
HOPEFULNESS THAT CHANGE WILL COME
Morial and Sharpton issued a joint statement on the FCC’s latest move to fight ongoing digital discrimination.
“Two years ago, Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which makes significant investments to close the digital divide and aligns with many of the recommendations outlined in the National Urban League’s Lewis Latimer Plan for Digital Equity and Inclusion. Congress said that ‘the digital divide disproportionately affects communities of color, lower-income areas, and rural areas, and the benefits of broadband should be broadly enjoyed by all’ and the FCC’s rules to prevent and eliminate digital discrimination move the nation closer to the goal of equitably closing the digital divide in America.
“As legacy civil rights organizations who represent Black and other historically underserved communities, we have seen how the lack of inclusive and equitable policies have created barriers to accessing broadband which have hindered our communities’ ability to fully participate in an increasingly interconnected world. This vote by the FCC will place us on the course of ensuring all experience the social and economic benefits of high-speed internet access.
A NUMBER TO REMEMBER
According to the FCC, an estimated 21 million people nationwide don’t have access to the internet, devices or skills needed to benefit from the online world.
“The digital divide is more than just having a device, but it’s having the knowledge and the confidence to use that device proficiently,” AT&T’s Corporate External Affairs Director Charles Stein said.
