Blacks and Latinos Phoning Across the Digital Divide

Black Youth in the News is an archive of articles written about young black people in major U.S. newspapers. Check out our feature article or browse all of the stories that we have sorted by week.

Today’s Feature Article

Blacks and Latinos Phoning Across the Digital Divide
Jamilah King, Colorlines, July 9, 2010

A new study by the Pew Research Center found that that Blacks and Latinos are among the biggest users of mobile web technology, and that low-income communities are among its fastest adopters. It’s nothing we haven’t already heard, of course.

But what makes this week’s news especially relevant is that it comes on the heels of heightened debates in the FCC and Congress and between telecom companies and activists around whether and how to regulate web service providers. People of color have been caught in the middle of that debate, as telecom argues that more regulation will force them to raise costs. The FCC has identified cost as the primary barrier to getting more people of color access to high speed service. Depending on your perspective, the rapidly growing number of mobile web users either signals that people of color are finding their way around the broadband divide or proves just how wide it is. (Read the full article)

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