Racism in a Click: Uncovering What Most Internet Users Do Not See
Open up a tab and type exactly what is in the search bar in the image above. This screenshot was taken on November 18th 2020. Reword it as many times as possible, the same images will appear. Then search “whites working,” you will see the people in those images in office settings and professional attire. Denise-Marie Ordway, the writer of How the news media portray Latinos in stories and images: 5 studies to know, had brought me to this search because she mentions that Latinos are more-so seen working low-skilled jobs through the media. What the media and Google do not understand is that they are allowing a discriminative social construct to continue. A resource that is depended on by 90 percent Americans implies that these images and referred searches are what best aligns with the Mexican working community. This type of representation affects not only this specific community but also other minorities as internet browsers like Google want users to see themselves and their roles in society. These assumptions made by Google, only encourage stereotypes.
Google is only the primary example for what the entirety of internet browsers are at fault for-racism. The tools that better the users experiences include search engines, web links, images, videos, media, and ads. All are which developed with the assistance of algorithms. The people behind these algorithms are software engineers, code writers, website providers, programmers, and the white majority. The focus of their work is to enhance the online market and efficiency for majority consumers. In America, majority of users are white so it leaves Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) misrepresented.
What the internet is doing is creating a divide. With the tools influencing discrimination, stereotypes, and prejudice it prohibits the chance of change. A person that does not affiliate or identify with a specific race can and will easily go to the internet for more information. On the contrary, when researching a race that is not white one may find the internet associating BIPOC with derogatory terms and images. This gives that person insight of what the rest of society thinks and knows of those people. Most times this is even done unconsciously, users may not even be wanting to target a specific race but tools such as autosuggestion will take them there. After the search, first web links provided will provoke inappropriate and dehumanizing content for simple search terms such as “black girls.” Dr. Safiya Noble the author of Algorithms of Oppression How Search Engines Reinforce Racism first began her research because a colleague had told her to look up “black girls.” First links were to be pornography, this influenced her to continue her research. She uncovers what web browsers think about the BIPOC through images, autosuggestion, ads, etc. that all contain horrifying results.
There are plenty affects that take place when a resource that is used by many is responsible for encouraging racism in a new day instead of transforming it. Not only does it maintain these societal conceptions but it also affects these minority groups personally. This is a form of cyber bullying. It makes it harder for them to drive away from stereotypes that will affect them in their everyday lives. Some will suffer from double-consciousness, are they who want to be or who society expects them to be. This can even affect policy making, voting as the internet is the prime source for the people that are unaware of certain issues. By allowing more BIPOC in positions of creation, this will allow them to be the narrators of the information provided by their own people. There needs to be reformation within how the internet works such as cutting out the biases in ads, images, and search. They must censor what is being broadly dehumanized, unless searched with specific words. The creators of the internet must not be so focused on their current creation, and start prioritizing on an internet is is diverse and appropriate for all users.
Link:
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/news-media/news-media-portray-latinos/
