During the last decade, technology has changed significantly and the diffusion of various forms of technology throughout the United States has been widespread, but uneven. Measuring the Divide examines the "digital divide" and several of the major factors that affect Internet use across and within racial groups, especially among African Americans. It also looks at how those who do have Internet connections use the Internet, as a way of informing how efforts might be made to make the Internet more engaging (as well as more accessible) to African Americans. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of broadband and the implications of its potential diffusion, particularly for health care, minority businesses, and African American communities. An appendix presents information on the characteristics of the African American population that affect Internet use in ten states and the District of Columbia.

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Date Published: March 2006
 

With the goal of connecting the vast majority of Americans to next-generation broadband over the next decade, the National Broadband Plan that was unveiled by the Federal Communications Commission last week offers a road map to full digital inclusion in our country.

If we succeed in meeting its goals, the plan could become one of the most influential documents of our era -- a blueprint not only for a new birth of equality and civil rights in the Information Age, but also for a more dynamic, competitive and vibrant society for the rest of this century.

For people of color, the poor, elderly, less-educated and disenfranchised, the stakes could not be higher.

Presently, nearly 100 million Americans, about a third of the country, are without a broadband connection to the Internet. According to the FCC, "they are older, poorer, less educated, more likely to be a racial or ethnic minority, and more likely to have a disability than those with a broadband Internet connection at home." Cost remains the primary barrier to entry, and limited digital proficiency, especially among seniors and the less educated, is also an important reason why many adults choose not to get online.

Our stubbornly high unemployment rate provides a glimpse of a wider problem, which is that too many in our work force are unprepared for rapid innovation in high-tech sectors that will dominate the global economy in the decades ahead.

Young people are not being equipped to meet the global competitiveness challenge in science, technology, engineering and math. Poor children in the inner city and many rural areas lack the textbooks, tools and teachers to help improve their readiness for the digital economy.

By charting a course toward universal connectivity to high-speed networks, the National Broadband Plan can help jump-start new efforts to address long-standing inequalities with regard to education and economic opportunity and thereby help bridge gaps that go far beyond the oft-mentioned digital divide. It's already happening among better-educated and more-affluent people of color. A recent study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that African-Americans and Hispanics in those categories are adopting broadband at the fastest rate of any group in the country.

Read more at The Baltimore Sun.

As computers and the Internet become more critical to daily life and work, America will benefit greatly from expanding the reach and capacity of broadband networks. The lack of access and technical literacy for some impacts quality of life, economic development, health care, education, environmental sustainability, public safety, and civic engagement for all U.S. communities. The federal, state, and local governments, in collaboration with the private sector, must play an active role in stimulating adoption and use of advanced broadband connections.

As part of a historic effort to revitalize the economy, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act("ARRA" or "Recovery Act"), pumping over $700 billion of economic "stimulus" dollars into the U.S. economy.

Section I of this paper discusses disparities currently existing among different race and ethnic groups and the barriers African Americans are facing on broadband adoption. A set of policy recommendations to increase broadband adoption among minorities are illustrated in Section II with three case studies. Section II also recommends ways broadband could be used to improve healthcare, education and employment. The last section details the call for action from African American elected officials committed to helping government and industry overcome these barriers and increase sustainable broadband adoption for African Americans.

Date Published: September 2009

Between December 2009 and January 2010, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies conducted a study of 2,741 respondents, oversampling African Americans and Hispanics, to understand national minority broadband adoption trends, and examine broadband adoption and use between and within minority groups. This report addresses the experiences of minority consumers of wireline and mobile broadband services and provides insights into some of the factors affecting the decisions of minorities who have adopted broadband.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Media and Technology Institute released their Broadband Imperatives Report at a luncheon on September 22, 2009.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Media and Technology Institute released their Broadband Imperatives Report at a luncheon on September 22, 2009.