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TheInternetAndTheNewRacism 4 - 11 Apr 2012 - Main.JasonPyke
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| | Every time I read a news article, a blog post, or anything else on the internet related to the issue of race, I try to avoid reading the user comments. The reason is that I know, with all certainty, that there will be a small but vocal group of anonymous posters who thrive on using their anonymity to incite racial hatred. I wish I could say that this was limited to an uneducated group of Mississippi rednecks, but even comments on race-related posts on Above the Law can rise to this level of small-minded discourse.
In fact, with the increasing popularity of twitter, many people don’t even try to hide behind a shroud of anonymity anymore. Most recently, with the release of the Hunger Games movie, there was a widely reported instance of apparent dissatisfaction and disapproval with the fact that many of the “good” characters in the movie were black. Of course, as soon as these users became aware that their tweets were being reported on major news sources like the Huffington Post, without their usernames redacted, they either deleted their tweets and made their accounts private or shut down their accounts altogether. | | | The Internet is undoubtedly transformative, and in my example above it acts as something of an equalizer which is in most cases valuable. However, what is also does is allow people to air these types of beliefs that have long since become taboo to acknowledge out loud. These bigots find an audience, and among that audience they find some sympathizers. That organizational aspect is one of the most valuable and troubling aspects of the Internet, but the downsides can't so easily be separated from the benefits, as you noted. Ultimately, what happens on the Internet, anonymously or not, is a broader reflection on our entire society.
-- CameronLewis - 11 Apr 2012 | |
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> | Kensing, I think I can sum up my response by giving my answer to your second to last question. I do not think someone can say racist things without being racist. However, I do think there is a HUGE difference between making jokes about race, and saying something racist. The problem though, is that there is a fine line between the two. There may be some people who genuinely believe that they are doing the former, but the tone and content of their comments come across more like the latter. That said, I do believe that this group is in the minority. The comments I am primarily concerned with are not just the ones which are meant or interpreted as stupid jokes or even those which are attempts to antagonize, but the more visceral ones which are clear articulations of the author's racial prejudices. But overall, I do agree with you that not all race-related comments on the internet are created equal.
To go to Cameron's point, I absolutely agree that the internet is a reflection of our broader society. When people try to argue that we are living in a post-racial America, the first thing I point to is the fact that, besides all the elements of white supremacist infrastructure that exist in our society today, racism is alive and well, and the most potent example is that people think it is ok to make whatever racist comments they want on the internet. It may not be anywhere near as bad as cross-burning or lynching anymore, but the internet has just allowed for a different form of racism to manifest itself. On the other hand, as our society as a whole becomes more educated, comments like these are increasingly seen as wrong and many commenters who aren't members of the particular group being disparaged are coming forward and writing rebuttals.
-- JasonPyke - 11 Apr 2012 |
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