Californians have reaped the rewards of the Internet revolution, as their community is home to thousands of high-tech firms and wired with billions of dollars in high-speed communications infrastructure. Unfortunately, a new report reveals that local Latinos may be missing out on these developments. If we are to advance civic participation in the 21st century, policymakers should consider new approaches to digital inclusion.
According to a statewide survey released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), the Internet usage of Hispanics in the Golden State has stagnated. From 2000 to 2008 usage grew only 1% (47% to 48%), while Caucasian and African American residents have experienced double-digit growth (70% to 81%, and 60% to 82%). Computer usage has also declined for Hispanics during this same period (64% to 58%). Though some may dismiss these figures as reflecting immigration trends, it’s important to note that California’s Asian community, which is nearly 2/3rds foreign-born, uses the Internet on levels comparable to African Americans and Caucasians (80%). In contrast, Californian Latinos, a solid majority who are native-born, are showing much lower adoption and usage rates.
The survey data indicates that the income and education levels of the state’s Hispanic population may be contributing factors to a digital divide, but a closer look suggests a more complex answer. Unique to the greater Latino experience is ownership of the Spanish language, which may be inhibiting online integration. According to a 2007 report from the Pew Hispanic Center, “Spanish-dominant Latinos are less likely to use the Internet at all income and education levels.” Key is the dearth of Spanish-language content on the World Wide Web: it is estimated that 56% of all web pages on the Internet are in English, and only 3% in Spanish.
Households that don’t own a computer or subscribe to Internet access lack the ability to readily access 24-hour information resources, making them more reliant on the schedules of government bureaucracy and the brick-and-mortar world. According to the PPIC survey, only 27% of Golden State Latinos use the Internet to visit government websites, trailing far behind Asians (56%), African Americans (60%), and Caucasians (64%). Citizen taxpayers, no matter what language they speak, deserve more efficient solutions to interacting with the public sector.
There are common-sense steps that can be taken. Municipal leaders should encourage stronger Internet and computer usage in their communities by spearheading new initiatives to develop public web sites that are culturally competent and linguistically diverse. The cities of Phoenix and Boulder, for example, have taken a high-tech strategy, providing a basic digital translation tool on their websites for users to click on. Other government bodies regularly create new content, such as the city of Rosemead in the Los Angeles area, which translates a monthly on-line community newsletter into Spanish as well as Asian languages. In San Diego County the website of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) translates key resources for parents who speak Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao.
What SDUSD is doing should serve as a wake up call to regional cities with large Spanish-speaking populations (such as Escondido and Chula Vista). At the very least municipal “splash pages” with basic information such as hours of operation and contact numbers should be available in Spanish. Ambitious elected officials can take this standard one step further and advance bottom-up, innovative strategies to develop comprehensive digital portals for Spanish-speaking constituents. Mayors and city councils can commission citizen task forces, composed of linguistic professionals, community advocates, and web designers, who can identify best practices and recommend web page changes that accurately reflect the needs of the community. Additional costs can be kept at a minimum by recruiting sponsors from the Latino community and the Spanish media industry, who are likely to have a strong interest in the success of municipal efforts.
The historic Voting Rights Act of 1965 recognized that the public is disenfranchised when state governments condition the right to vote on English language proficiency. Similarly, local leaders should reject the old politics of exclusion, and aspire to the greatest levels of civic participation from their constituents, laying the foundation for a united region. Bridging the digital divide in San Diego can bring us one step closer to building the prosperous pluralistic nation we all seek to be apart of.
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