Write a 3-5 paragraph reflection on Ruha Benjamin’s Race After Technology. Your reflection should answer the following questions:
- What is “The New Jim Code”?
- When it comes to addressing problems like racism, sexism, and other forms of inequality, how do modern technologies like algorithms and metadata pose unique challenges?
- What is an example that you can think of (from the news, from your own life, from another class, etc.) of technology shaping and/or being shaped by societal biases and inequality? How does Benjamin’s argument speak to that example?
- Benjamin shows why the creators of any digital project should be mindful of the risks of perpetuating discrimination. Think about your project for this class. Where are there potential opportunities to encode inequality? (This does not have to be about racism or sexism–just take a few sentences to consider potential implicit bias in your project.)
To earn full credit on this assignment, your reflection must answer all of the above questions in enough detail to demonstrate a close, careful examination of the reading. The writing does not need to be formal or polished, but it should be clear.