Race and Color

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=155619&f=24

The makers of Ask.com are introducing a new search engine for African Americans. I can only hope it crashes and burns.

While I have no illusions about the legacy and persistance of racism in America, the continued self segregation of AA culture at best perpetuates and at worst exacerbates the sense of 'otherness' that drives racism. It was never acceptable for caucasians to exile AA's to a parallel second class world; self creation of a new sphere is equally antithetical to the best and most basic values that animate America.

But isn't the internet all about niches? After all, when a 'black' person hears thanksgiving they think sweet potatoe pie and Mac and cheese, not dried out turkey?

Here is the flaw. Certainly the stereotypical AA does. I would wager that the median one does as well. But fundamentally correlating 'black' and 'sweet potatoe pie' is at a marketing ploy aimed at homogenization. While old style mass marketing required such generalizations (a sort of tyranny of the majority) for pragmatic reasons - you can only aim an ad at everyone watching a show or reading a paper - the internet is a liberal sphere that recognizes individuals.

By allowing self sorting, in fact for the first time letting individuals decide if they like sweet potatoe pie, the internet is the most potent tool yet for allowing us to move beyond the generalities that buttress the remnants of racism.