[SIGCIS-Members] Is Unix racist?

[Andrew Meade McGee]

On a semi-related query, has there been much race-, gender-, or
class-related discussion around the cultural logic or social context of the
development or reception of BASIC?

I could imagine that fitting into a larger conversation on class,
institutions, social action, and (possibly) accusations of paternalism
given its Sixties-era development and Dartmouth origins. Just curious -- I
admittedly know far less than I should about the dissemination of
programming languages.

Best,
Andrew

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Andrew Meade McGee
Corcoran Department of History
University of Virginia
PO Box 400180 - Nau Hall
Charlottesville, VA 22904

On Mon, Aug 17, 2015 at 5:55 PM, Nabeel Siddiqui <nasiddiqui at email.wm.edu>
wrote:

> 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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>
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