Now more than ever, technology is rapidly and seamlessly integrated into our lives. Racism in technology has been explored by many scholars throughout the decades, adapting as new technologies emerge. Technology has allowed white supremacist settler colonial societies to contend with racism, in ways it has not before: lived environments, politics, and social interactions, both on and offline. Today we are accustomed to using tap to pay credit cards, 2-day Amazon shipping, and booking online video appointments. However, our awareness of the coded algorithms that help inform decisions about and within our cities is much less known. Social media serves as a powerful tool for activist resistance, voicing pressing issues, and calling communities into action. At the same time, governments and private industries utilize technology as a repressive force for surveillance, hyper capitalism, and extraction.
As we interrogate technology as a tool for progress and social advancement, it is integral to question who these tools are inaccessible to and who they surveil. From facial recognition software to parole eligibility and mortgage loan algorithms, technology is experienced on an intersectional level. For historically excluded and racially marginalized people, technology means increased policing, hyper criminalization and cultural extraction. The overlapping issues within these large topics deserve credible information and discussion.
Join us in conversation at “Racism by Design”, on Tuesday, March 28 at 6pm in person at The New School and virtually on Zoom. “Racism by Design” hopes to bring together expert scholars from The New School community and a curious audience in engaging conversation. The event features: Jennifer Rittner, Sareeta Amrute, and Jack Jin Gary Lee.
Uncomfortable dialogue is necessary to move towards unbiased systems, and it starts with honest and vulnerable community discussion!