Privilege and Repression in the Digital Era: Rethinking the Sociopolitics of the Digital Divide

The digital divide has been historically been understood too simplistically, as gaps in physical access to computers and the Internet among various identity groups. As a result, approaches for ending digital inequities, such as adding more computers to all schools and classrooms, have failed to take into account the historical and current social, cultural, political, and economic systems of power and privilege of which the digital divide is a symptom. This article examines this problem in the context of a greater picture of race, gender, class, language, and ability privilege, moving toward a more progressive approach for dismantling the digital divide.