Race and Technology?

In Tara Mcpherson’s, “U.S. Operating Systems at Mid-Century: The Intertwining of Race and UNIX,” Mcpherson seems to draw a parallel with the changes in technology and the changes in racism. I must confess, however, that I did not entirely understand this article. Mcpherson kept coming back to this point that these two changes in the mid Twentieth Century were interrelated and connected, and yet, I don’t believe that I understand why these two events are related.

On page 23, Mcpherson states that, “Both exist as operating systems of a sort, and we might understand them to be mutually reinforcing.” But my question is, why is this statement true? How are these two important changes in American history and culture connected? Mcpherson also suggests that the main people involved in these two groups of changes seemed to have no awareness of each other. The people involved in the tech-world, creating UNIX, were not thinking of racism or the racial tension of America. According to Mcpherson, they appeared to be in their own world as they created their software.  If this was so, then clearly the people themselves were not having an effect on each other. She later suggests that perhaps these “particular forms of electronic culture” (page 24) could themselves encourage these racial movements, taking the people out of the equation entirely.

Mcpherson draws the parallel between UNIX and racial segregation by showing that UNIX, especially as time went on, suggested an idea of separate but equal in technology. As segregation became worse, this was America’s excuse for themselves. As I read these things, I am comprehending what she is saying, I just am really not sure how these conclusions were drawn. I can see the similarities between the development of UNIX and the racial tension and segregation in the U.S., but after reading the article, I can’t make light of how these things could have led the other to occur. And if they did cause each other to happen, which came first? How did racial segregation have an affect on the developers and development of UNIX? How did the developers and development of UNIX affect the racial tension in the United States?

One thought on “Race and Technology?

  1. You’ve hit upon the crux of the article, and I think your skepticism is very productive (and McPherson would likely welcome it, as well). McPherson is walking a fine line, and it reminds me of the Raymond Williams article on technology and society. Using Williams’ terminology, we might say, channeling McPherson, that both institutionalized racism and the development of UNIX were symptomatic of other developments in post-World War II American culture (with “modularity” being the primary development).

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