Some minority groups are finding themselves on the wrong side of the information gap. "The lack particularly of black and Latino involvement in the information industry reflects a variety of inequalities in the computer era, including limited minority access to computers and modems and the immense cost of starting on-line services" (Haq 1995a). This lack of access may be closely tied to wider issues of income and education for minorities in the United States (Haq 1995b).
As with women, a variety of forces establish the barriers between minorities and computer access at an early age. Census data from 1989 showed that 26.7 percent of white children had a computer at home compared to 10.6 percent of black children and 9.6 percent of Hispanic children (1991, 3). Adults didn't fare any better. Only 8.4 percent of black adults had access to a computer at home compared to 18.3 percent of white adults. The numbers for use outside of the home show similar trends (Haq 1995b). The WWW survey is even more extreme, showing that 87 percent of Web users are white (Pitkow and Recker 1994).
In 1993, the federal government created the National Infrastructure Network (NIN) to break up monopolies of telephone and cable companies, increase competition and ensure affordable access to new technologies (Haq 1995b). But, in the midst of this restructuring, civil rights groups including the NAACP have accused the phone companies of "electronic redlining" by excluding low-income and minority neighborhoods from their plans. They have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate (Stuart 1995, 73). U S West and Pacific Bell both denied the accusations, saying they rarely based their plans on demographics and that they do not discriminate against minorities (Vittore 1994, 36; Haq 1995b).
Again, minorities can benefit from the inherent equality of the computer medium. Race, like gender, is masked and people are more likely to be judged based on their ability (Manning 1994, 2).