Due to the events happening in America in recent days, I felt it’s important, first as a person who had to learn that I was black 4 years ago when I moved to America for college, second a person who walked the halls of Davis as a CS student and had the opportunity to be the author of “Engineer’s Lounge blog” – an educational resource for CSE students, that I write to you about the need to take action and be a part of the solution to the current problems we are witnessing.
State-sanctioned violence through police brutality and institutional racism against black Americans is not new. What troubles me more is even as I write this, I’m aware of my non-black acquaintances that rebuttal my assertion by saying, “But slavery ended over 100 years ago. The constitution gives rights to every American, why do black people complain they have no rights? ” These responses arouse a mild fit of irritation because the reality of black people is often trivialized and their experiences are dismissed by non-black people because from where they stand, they aren’t spectators to the injustice black Americans endure. This is wrong and it must stop. To refuse to educate yourself about the reality of black Americans is to remain complacent with a system of oppression.
What’s happening in Minneapolis, Louisiana, and across different cities in America is an explosion. Others say black people are perpetrators because they use violence to demonstrate and destroy their own communities. To exist in a country and witness the continuous mistreatment of black Americans by the police for decades and then not expect black people to explode into violence is lunacy. It is dehumanizing to pass judgment on a person for their reaction to a system that murders their brother, father, friend in cold blood as the world bore witness in the case of George Floyd. No one wakes up in the morning to be violent, loot a city, and then burn it down. To think anyone in their right mind would is to refuse to see black Americans as you see yourself. Would you wake up and loot a town without any provocation? Americans, black Americans are mourning.
I agree it’s important for Americans to preserve their infrastructure. But it’s just as important to understand, why are Americans demonstrating today? Why did Malcolm X preach on April 27th, 1962 at Muhammad’s mosque no.27? Why did Dr. Martin Luther King march from Selma to Montgomery? Why did the black panther movement come into existence? Why did Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, George Floyd die the way they did? Why did we have the 2015 Baltimore riots? Why have black people been begging for equal human rights for more than 100 years in this country? Is that normal? That black fathers and mothers die while asking to be treated as human beings only for their children to be lynched and slain in broad daylight in the streets.
So I’m here today as someone who was once your classmate, your student, your groupmate, your friend. I’m here to say that the plight of black people in America is dire and the expense of our silence is far too high a price to pay. We can’t afford that. Today, black Americans need us. Do more than say, “I understand your pain”. Show that you are in the fight with them. Give to causes fighting for justice for black people. Give your money, give your time, give your knowledge. You are computer scientists. You are engineers. You are human beings. You can do something about this – so you must.
As computer scientists and engineers, the impact of your work has the power to change the world today. The algorithms you write have the ability to create technology that will define the standard of life for generations to come. With that power comes great responsibility. It is impossible to write unbiased algorithms if you don’t educate yourself about the unconscious biases you may carry as a result of being a part of a system that marginalizes black people in America. This is why you must educate yourself about the history of this country. You must be conscious of your own participation in the system. And you must answer this question for yourself, are your actions actively contributing towards the progress of this nation to promote equal rights for all?
I’ll leave you with this quote:
“The pursuit of full humanity, however, cannot be carried out in isolation or individualism, but only in fellowship and solidarity;”
― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Hi Mercy,
Thank you for this post. I wholeheartedly agree this goes beyond just mere awareness, it is now about how we can break this cycle of oppression. These protests and riots are demonstrating how we can uplift our black brothers and sisters by fighting every aspect of the system that marginalizes them. Police brutality is only one of the numerous symptoms of this war on black people in America. If you have any information as to how I could contribute as a UB student that would be great, I really want to advocate for this even after these protests stop. It is a conversation that must remain and be continuously heard.
Hello Annusha,
Thank you for your response. Here are some links for resources that talk about ways of contributing even after the protests.
https://www.timeout.com/things-to-do/how-to-support-black-lives-matter
https://www.fastcompany.com/90512176/5-ways-to-support-black-lives-matter-protesters-even-if-you-cant-join-a-protest
Also, a simple google search for ways to support BLM movement will lead you to a lot of resources that show more ways in which you can contribute.
I hope this helps!
So what specifically are you trying to say besides us educating ourselves about the history of this country? Which algorithms are you specifically talking about? Are you talking about AI that might be biased towards white people or something like that?
curious
Hello Alain,
In regard to education, that in itself would/should – if effectively done – incentivize action. Educating yourself about the reality of black Americans should propel you to figuring out ways in which you can be a part of the solution.
If I was to list some out, I’d say:
1. If you are interested in giving money, donate to organizations that are fighting for equal rights and justice – do some research to find out which organizations you would like to support.
2. If you don’t have money, you can contribute your time. Look for organizations that are local to you and volunteer there. Personally, 2 years ago, I applied to a summer tech internship in the city of Baltimore Maryland with the intention of using my time after work to volunteer with an organization called Thread https://www.thread.org/ as a mentor. The work that thread does is focused on helping black kids in the inner city who face challenges as a result of institutionalized racism. You don’t have to go to Baltimore like I did but I used this as an example of how you can contribute in case you don’t have money.
3. Being proactive in asking and listening to your black friends when they talk about their reality. Consequently, being deliberate about not allowing non-black people to continue micro-aggressions towards black people.
4. There’s not enough time or space for me to spell out everything that you can possibly do to make a change because the solutions are endless. What I do know though is the more you educate yourself, the more clear it will become how pervasive this problem is and it will allow you to define your own way that you feel can make a contribution using your actions.
5. In terms of algorithms:
Let’s say you are tasked with writing a program that determines how many people are eligible for a particular scholarship based on the applicant pool. Your duty is to come up with requirements that your program will use to filter the applicants. Suppose you choose your requirements to be 3.8 GPA, excellent personal essay, and evidence of community contribution. On the surface, these criteria seem noble and fair. But black applicants that were raised in communities with low funded schools and high rates of crime – as a result of institutionalized racism might have a 3.5 GPA, good essay and no community service contribution due to living in high-risk neighborhoods due to gang-related violence. Based on the standards of your original algorithm, they would be filtered out. But with this contextual information, as a programmer, you might modify your algorithm to account for the edge case that considers accounting for the black student with the said background because, despite their circumstances, they are able to achieve a high GPA.
So it’s not just only about AI – which we see many cases of like you pointed out – it also includes criteria that are used to write algorithms to be used for decision making in different facets of our lives. Does this answer your questions?