Benjamin’s argument is that technology can make social inequality and injustice worse. The “New Jim Code” is saying how technology worsens racial discrimination, but it’s supposed to be doing the opposite and fixing the social bias. When it comes to addressing problems like racism, sexism, and other forms of inequality, algorithms pose unique challenges because, according to researchers, many apps’ algorithms have a bias that reflects real-life prejudice. In Stinson’s article, a Black woman named Odion Eigbobo, tested Hinge’s algorithm to see if she would get better dates being a White woman vs. a Black woman. Ultimately, the White profile got better quality dates, even though she used the same photo for both of them. In Stinson’s article, Tamika Young, a spokeswoman, talks about how people are given the ability to find others with similar values, cultural upbringings, and experiences that can help with their dating journey. If you read that article, you would suspect that people shouldn’t be discriminated against and they’re given options based on what they like. However, dating apps might hurt Black women’s ability to get into long-term relationships. Also in Stinson’s article, Apryl Williams mentions how the first layer of dating app’s algorithms may be inadvertently isolating users of color even for users who would otherwise be open to dating different races. In survey data that OkCupid released, it was found that only Black men rated Black women in a favorable light, and that White, Asian and Hispanic male users rated Black women as less desirable. In their experiment, Eigbobo’s non-Black profile got twice as many likes than her Black profile. The non-Black profile got men who were ready for long-term relationships, whereas the men who liked the Black profile didn’t bother to fill out the dating profile.
The dating site that’s talked about in the reading is Hinge. The algorithm that they have has been tested and shown to be bias against Black people. Benjamin’s lecture explains how technology is supposed to be neutral, but can actually have discriminatory outcomes because it can be embedded in the design and development of technology. Benjamin talks about how technology just keeps the social inequalities there, without taking it away like it should.
Another example of racial inequality is Black people being discriminated against by technology to get jobs. Black men are less likely to be working than White, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino men. From a Business Insider article, a man named Jared talked about how in business and finance, most of his interviewers are Asian or White. He also talked about how a Black man wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity at a job if he hadn’t been at the deciding table between him and an Asian man. Benjamin’s argument speaks to this because it shows how technology can be a tool to widen oppression or can take a turn for the good. Technology has been used for bad, as we’ve seen it to be racially discriminating against Black people.
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