Page 631 - Sociology and You

32.4%
21.2%
11.7% 7.7%
12.9% 8.7%
Increase in usage rate: 53% 52% 48%
irrespective
35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10%
5% 0
Chapter 17 Social Change and Collective Behavior 601 What Does it Mean
1997 1998 Whites
1997 1998 African Americans
1997 1998 Latinos
divide
as a noun, something that separates two areas; a point or line of division
disparities
marked differences in quality or character (usually where you would not expect them)
irrespective
regardless; without relation to
Figure 17.5 Minorities and the Internet. This figure reveals the digital divide in the United States between whites, African Americans, and Latinos. What do you think are the most important consequences of this divide?
Source: “Report Finds Net Users Increasingly White, Well Off,” Washington Post, July 9, 1999, p. A20.
❖ The digital divides based on education and income level have also increased in the last year alone. Between 1997 and 1998, the divide between those at the highest and lowest education levels increased 25 percent, and the divide between those at the highest and lowest income levels grew 29 percent.
Nevertheless, the news is not all bleak. For Americans with incomes of $75,000 and higher, the divide between Whites and Blacks has actu- ally narrowed considerably in the last year. This finding suggests that the most affluent American families, of race, are connecting to the Net.
Source: “Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide,” a Report on the Telecommunications and Information Technology Gap in America (Washington, DC: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, July 1999)
1. What is the main idea of this report on Internet access?
2. What does the term information rich (in the third paragraph) mean?
3. Who is more likely to have Internet access, whites or Asian/Pacific Islanders? How can you tell?
4. Why do you think urban Americans are more than twice as likely to have Internet access as rural Americans with the same income level?
5. In what category has the gap between African Americans and whites significantly narrowed? What explanation would you offer for this?
6. Do you think the federal government is now (or should be now) attempting to bridge the digital divide in the U.S.? Why or why not?
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Percentage