[Foundation-l] A question for American Wikimedians

[Keegan Peterzell]

On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at fairpoint.net> wrote:

> > For some time I am a bit puzzled by the fact that I don't know any
> > African American Wikimedian. For some time just because I am living in
> > a European country without African population, so everything seemed to
> > me quite normal for a long time.
> >
> > I tried to make a parallel between Roma people and African Americans,
> > but it is not a good one. It is very hard to find a Roma with
> > university degree. At the other side, two former State Secretaries are
> > African Americans and present US president is almost, too.
> >
> > What are the reasons? Why American Wikimedian community is exclusively
> > white?
> >
> > Maybe the answer to that question would give us an idea what should we
> > solve to get more contributors.
>
> The short answer: Wikipedia editors are volunteers and African-Americans
> rarely volunteer.


Wow, I don't even know what to say to that, Fred.  Actually, I do.  As a
white American who has lived in the American south his entire life, the area
with the most racial tension as a whole (you can localize communities in
cities like LA or Detroit), that is entirely untrue.  Statistics might be
found that show that African Americans are less likely to be identified as
volunteers in survey,  but African Americans most certainly are even more
community oriented than white folk.

I can think of five Wikimedians off the top of my head that are African
Americans.  I can think of almost ten Hispanic Americans.  I can think of a
Moroccan (@Nathan) because we have one on the English Wikipedia's
Arbitration committee with FayssalF.

I don't pay much attention to age, gender, or sexual orientation on
Wikipedia or other projects, because it doesn't matter.  What we reveal
about ourselves is our choice, and if you seek out personal information that
is your choice.  On the internet, no one knows you're a dog.


-- 
~Keegan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keegan