[SIGCIS-Members] Is Unix racist?

[Nabeel Siddiqui]

I assign it in my course to discuss race with students, but it does have
its problems, specifically correlation vs causality.  While the article
doesn't get into it, I think it adds to David Golumbia's *Cultural Logic of
Computation* on how computation provides a set of ideas and metaphors for
people to think about the world around them.  The Digital Humanities part
is actually a part that was tacked on and doesn't really add much to the
article.


Originally, the article was release as "U.S. Operating System at
Mid-Century" in *Race After the Internet*, edited by Lisa Nakamura and
Peter Chow-White. Link to the original article's pdf here:
http://history.msu.edu/hst830/files/2014/01/McPherson_2012.pdf

On Mon, Aug 17, 2015 at 4:57 PM, Janet Abbate <abbate at vt.edu> wrote:

> Anyone seen this piece by Tara Mcpherson? It starts with some interesting
> questions, but I found the follow-through to be disappointingly
> ahistorical. Again and again she argues that there must be a connection
> between the modularity of Unix and the compartmentalization of race within
> American culture, but then immediately admits that she has no evidence for
> any direct connection. As far as I can tell, the only reason she singles
> out Unix is because it coincides conveniently with the US Civil Rights era.
> I'm curious to know what others think.
>
> "Why Are the Digital Humanities So White? or Thinking the Histories of
> Race and Computation."
> http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/29
>
> Janet
>
>
> Dr. Janet Abbate
> Associate Professor, Science & Technology in Society
> Co-director, National Capital Region STS program
> Virginia Tech
> www.sts.vt.edu/ncr
> www.linkedin.com/groups/STS-Virginia-Tech-4565055
> www.facebook.com/VirginiaTechSTS
>
>
>
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