Now, many Americans are experiencing, for the first time, a reality that Black people in this country have been living with since 1619: white supremacist terrorism supported by technology.
While many are appropriately focused on the intense and indiscriminate state violence and abuse currently being meted out by police and military, we cannot forget about the technology and systems that support these practices.
In fact, assessing the bluetooth-powered contact tracing technology deployed by the Indian government, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) warned that the app is a “privacy minefield” that could become a permanent surveillance tool even after the pandemic recedes.
While white supremacist violence powered by technology may be troubling for many Americans, it will disproportionately be aimed at and affect Black people.
In America, technology has always been deployed to subject Black people to intense surveillance and violence from the state as well as broader society.
