Here’s a fun exercise in institutional racism for you:

Step 1: Go to http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en, this is the beta test of Google Suggest.

Step 2: Type in “blacks are”. Take note of the suggestions.

Step 3: Type in “whites are”. Again, take note. Anything seem off to you?

Step 4: Have fun trying out other strings to see how wonderful artificial intelligence is at pointing out the racism inherent in our world.

Step 5: Discuss with friends.

My favorite thing is that if you type in “Native Americans are”, you get nothing. No results. Zero. Ironic, since to most people, Native Americans are invisible. Also, don’t try looking up suggestions for transexuals or intersexuals. Anything have to do with sex is very off limits. Apparently its a touchy subject for robots (jealousy rears its ugly head once again).

Thanks to questsin everything for pointing this out. Certainly should continue the discussion on technology and social inequities.

[tags]racism [/tags]

Not long ago, I commented on Tim Wise’s Racism, Free Speech and the College Campus (see: Oh Those Quirky College Kids).  Well, as expected, Wise received a number of responses to his controversial essay.  While he shrugs most of them off, he found one response to be of particular interest.

In Part Two of his essay, Wise breaks down the theory that we should ‘educate not ostracize’.  Once again the article is amazing and a must read, especially for us White folk.

http://www.lipmagazine.org/~timwise/freespeech2.html 

[tags]racism, antioppression, college, free speech