Another digital divide?

Eight years ago, I stood on a stage in New York City, in front on a large audience. Microsoft had just kicked off its "Build Your Business With Technology" tour and I, representing Black Enterprise magazine, had been invited to moderate the discussion. Unexpectedly thrust into the limelight at my very new job, I envisioned a glorious Coming of Age for black businesses. At that particular point in history, I viewed myself as a kind of educator/facilitator for African Americans who desperately wanted to participate in the digital economy.

Following the "tour," I threw myself into the task of providing BE readers access to people, information, and resources that had given mainstream businesses an edge. I spoke at conferences, I addressed small groups, I made television and radio appearances, speaking about not just Technology in general, but Technologies that could have a significant impact on companies' bottom lines. I emphasized the need to engage rather than retreat from tech. I spoke and wrote about cost-effective technologies, about understanding what fundamental business needs were before buying and implementing. I traveled overseas, on my own dime, to research global black businesses and their interactions with technology. I highlighted tech industry news to keep readers abreast of products and services that could benefit their businesses, whether a solo shop or a small business. I wrote about and edited stories on the Digital Divide, that elusive, hard-to-define "lack" that seemingly plagues African American businesses and social communities…still.

Eight years later, I find myself in a strange position. Here again, we sit at the dawn of a new age for African Americans. Here again, I look and see down the highway, another divide. What will create a new divide in the emerging digital age has nothing to do with "access" or "lack"; it has to do with what I call a willful ignorance.

Black businesses know what they should be doing. They know that they need to participate in the digital economy at every level. In this new digital age, it means that employees must have access to tools and resources to work effectively. It means that employers must engage with and incorporate technology into everyday practice. It means that companies need to have a fluency with technology, it's language and discourse. By no means am I suggesting IT courses for everyone, but in the words of a(n) (in)famous African American, "C'mon people…."

The new age requires us to do one very important thing: discard a 1950s, "mid-century modern" mindset when it comes to business . I'm a great fan of mid-century modern when it comes to furniture design, not so much for business practices.

As an instructor at a major U.S. university (where I am pursuing a doctorate degree), it is both encouraging and frustrating to see my students' reaction to my course. I am encouraged by their engagement and enthusiasm, and I am happy every day when I see knowledge happening. I consider it a good day in my "Technology and Identities" course when a student says, "you scared us today." Whether it's a discussion of the body harvesting industry or which country can rightfully lay claim to producing the iPod (I'll let you guess), I really get a kick out of the level of engagement. Today, for example, a discussion on the Wikipedia Scanner led us to talking about Dateline NBC's "To catch a predator" and issues of crime, privacy, surveillance. And this was just on the fly, not a planned lesson.

I get frustrated when I think that they have to go out into a world that is so fundamentally disengaged from what we create in that classroom. My goal with the course has always been to teach writing and communication skills, sure, but also make sure that I am not creating another army of consumers.

But I digress…The point is, there is so much going on in tech. "Access" was once a measure of parity in terms of the Digital Divide was. Most folks I know have an iPod, Blackberry, cool laptop, and are on LinkedIn and Facebook–they're wired and wireless, so in that regard, parity achieved, mission accomplished. Woo-hoo! Because of this, I believe we've developed a social arrogance with regard to tech that belies our ignorance.

The times, indeed, are a' changing. Unfortunately, we aren't. Will we? Or will it be too late…again?

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 5:34 am and is filed under blog, business, education (.edu), media // culture, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.