Electronic redlining: Racism on the information superhighway?

Kahl, Chad M.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/78251 Copy

Description

Title

Electronic redlining: Racism on the information superhighway?

Author(s)

Kahl, Chad M.

Issue Date

1997

Keyword(s)

• Racism
• Information superhighway

Abstract

Electronic redlining is an alleged--some say purposively racist--practice by telecommunication firms which limits access to minority neighborhoods. It purportedly occurs when telecommunication firms bypass poor neighborhoods when offering new telecommunications technologies to more affluent areas. The issue was first raised by a coalition of public-interest groups who examined the Baby Bells'--the regional telecommunication firms created by the break-up of American Telephone and Telegraph's monopoly in 1984--video dialtone installation proposals to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and filed a petition on May 23, 1994 in an effort to receive a clarification of policy and statement opposing segregation. Inequalities in Internet access, the coalition's allegations, Baby Bell installation proposal case studies, the National Information Infrastructure, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 are all examined in an effort to fully understand the issue. It has sparked debates over racism and discrimination at the beginning of what many people see as the Information Revolution. Seemingly, existing presidential support of the ideals of the National Information Infrastructure and favorable interpretations of the new Telecommunications Bill will prevent electronic redlining from continuing, but the installation and regulatory process has just begun. Given the importance of the issue, library professionals should push for a sustained effort to ensure regulation against its occurrence.

Publisher

Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Series/Report Name or Number

Katharine Sharp Review ; no. 004, Winter, 1997

ISSN

1083-5261

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78251

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 1997 is held by Chad M. Kahl

Owning Collections