Oluwabiyi Shittu, Period 1, 2/7/24

Oluwabiyi Shittu
Period 1
Literacy and Learning
3/7/24

As an African American in the United States, I have experienced my fair share of racism. Racism comes in many forms, whether online or in person. Racism is racism wherever you go, but where you encounter it greatly determines the intensity and type that you encounter. A prime example of this is how racism online differs from racism in person. People tend to act differently on the internet in general as communication on the internet is not the same as actually physically interacting with someone. According to KQED.org’s study on this effect, it is stated that “if you’re anonymous online you feel less accountable for your actions and less vulnerable when it comes to opening up about personal things”. Anonymity and lack of consequence causes people to become more confident with speaking their mind and opening up. This is what causes the effect highlighted earlier. In person the effect your words have on people is more apparent, while online this is much harder to tell. This is what leads to the vast amount of hate speech online and why certain communities have been formed centered about hate. This is a huge problem online that hurts marginalized communities and leads to a lack of safety. However a fix for this problem is an extremely complicated one as the problem is deeply rooted in human nature. When you dehumanize someone, it makes it easier to attack and cause harm to them. This is what the internet does. You don’t see these accounts as actual human beings, you see them as accounts that you follow and see online. Another similar example of dehumanization was in Nazi Germany, where they dehumanized Jewish people by stripping them of their names and identifying them as mere numbers, making it easier to commit the atrocities towards them. This is merely another symptom of the internet that is being realized in the current world climate.