While the digital world has bolstered the free exchange of ideas and revolutionized the global economy, it also provides new fertile ground for old evils. The spread of violent white nationalist ideology online, rampant algorithmic bias, and homogeneity in the technology industry threaten to undo decades of racial progress and further entrench inequality.
Historically, racial progress in the United States has almost inevitably been followed by racist pushback. The Civil War, emancipation, and Reconstruction were followed by more than 80 years of state-sanctioned violence against African American communities. The gains coming out of the Civil Rights era of the 1960s were immediately met with white backlash and resentment that seeped into the nation’s politics. Policies targeted communities of color with draconian actions, not the least being the weaponization of the criminal justice system. More recently, the historic election of President Barack Obama was followed by a resurgence of violent white nationalism—the alt-right movement1—which was key to the election of Donald Trump.
This perplexing pendulum of racial progress followed by a rise in racism helps explain the recent resurgence of white nationalism in the United States. This maddening cycle owes itself to Americans’ addiction to collective denial and selective ignorance when it comes to the nation’s history.
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