How White Privilege is Manifested on the Internet as Covert and Overt Term Paper

How White Privilege is Manifested on the Internet as Covert and Overt Racism - Term Paper Example The fact that even talking has become a fringe activity is the biggest marker yet of how much we have moved our lives online. However, the entry of this new mode of communication has not changed some of the ways in which we relate to other people in real life. One of the areas of great interest is with regard to race relations. For a long time we have got used to the idea that whites are portrayed as superior to all other races. There are different constructs in society that help reinforce that stereotype. The internet is now one of the mediums through which white privilege is passed on. There are several ways in which white privilege is manifested with regard to the internet. This paper shall seek to, explore those ways. In addition to that, the paper shall explore some of the ways that have been tried out to bring a about a more level racial playing field on the internet. White privilege has been defined variously but the basic components of that definition remain the same. It has to do with access for instance and the rewards that one receives for belonging to the white race. Further still there is a component that that states that there is some power to affect norms and values as a result of someone being white. Finally there is an agreement that white privilege can either be manifested consciously or unconsciously. The first point of entry when discussing a topic of this nature is to look at the development stage with regards to new technologies and software. It is known by all technology enthusiasts and mere watchers of the industry that Silicon Valley in California is the technology capital of the world in many ways. This is an area where developers and geeks gather to try and discover the next big thing in the world of technology. Most internet startups are located in Silicon Valley. Above all, this is an affluent part of California (Nakamura 2002). Most of these young men and women it must be said are white. They develop technologies that are genuinely designed to help the rest of humanity. However, we all know that diversity is a theme of continuing importance in this age of globalization. The lack of diversity in such places where technologies are developed is the first stage at which tendencies that are racial in nature later come to dominate people of other races when they eventually make them to the internet. Racial diversity might not add anything tangible in the process of developing these technologies, but at the very least it gives the developers an alternative viewpoint of the technologies that hey are developing. After all they are going to be used by people of all races (Nakamura 2002). To further illustrate this point, think about the world famous owners and founders of all the big global internet and technology companies. The most eminent of them, the now deceased Steve Jobs, was white. The founder of Facebook, mark Zuckerberg is white also. The Amazon founder is white also. It therefore begs the question, why is ra cial equality or rather diversity not reflected in the development of the major internet and technology firms? This is because there is limited access for those who belong to other races. Why for instance would a black man be the president of the United States but there is not even one renowned black founder of any of the big global internet and technology firms? The answer is that there is a lack of access (Racism review). On