[SIGCIS-Members] Is Unix racist?

[Matthew Kirschenbaum]

"Funding in preference to a . . . "? What does that even mean?

I've taught the McPherson article on multiple occasions, and will do so
again this fall. It does not suggest that UNIX is racist (though I
appreciate that that's shorthand for purposes of a subject line). The
article, however, is not shorthand. It always inspires a good conversation.
I'd certainly hope to see a higher bar for discussion of it here, in a
forum with so many scholars and historians I respect. Best, Matt



On Mon, Aug 17, 2015 at 7:10 PM, Ken Strauss <ken.strauss at sympatico.ca>
wrote:

> As a hard-nosed engineer who has been active in software design for almost
> 50 years I find the article one of the most insignificant pieces of c*ap
> that I have had the misfortune to waste my time reading. Before I expound
> on what I **REALLY** think, the article should be condemned as a crime
> against defenseless bits. I find it inconceivable that intelligent readers
> could do other than consign it to the dung heap of irrelevance. The worst
> part is that I suspect that she got funding for her drivel in preference to
> a fourth-rate computer science student’s project.
>
>
>
> *From:* Members [mailto:members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org] *On Behalf Of *Nabeel
> Siddiqui
> *Sent:* Monday, August 17, 2015 5:55 PM
> *To:* Sigcis
> *Subject:* Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Is Unix racist?
>
>
>
> 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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-- 
Matthew Kirschenbaum
Associate Professor of English
Associate Director, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
(MITH)
University of Maryland
http://mkirschenbaum.net or @mkirschenbaum on Twitter
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