How did anybody do anything before iPhones, Google, social media, and GPS? Technology makes life more convenient in many ways, but one downside of the industry is that it perpetuates a long-standing institutional problem: racism.
Modern tech has a history of privileging whiteness. Take, for example, photography. Since the early 20th century, light skin tones have been considered the “ideal standard” when calibrating skin tones in photos, according to a 2009 paper.
Some 21st-century technology also shows similar racial biases, and sheds light on the industry’s diversity problem. A workforce that’s overwhelmingly white can lead to oversights when developing new products, failing to take people of color into account.
Read our list of eight examples of tech's racial blind spots: