I would not wish that world upon anyone, Fred. African Americans are underrepresented for the same reason that Native Americans and about 300 ethnic groups are: lack of internet access and, with access emerging, learning how to engage in the internet. It's not because any specific group does not have a desire to volunteer, as you asserted, it's because our (not black, white, North American, South American, African, Asian, Australian, European or sitting in a small hut at a weather station in Antarctica) ones and zeros are finally reaching populations. You cannot expect any group to embrace things like Wikimedia all at once, nor can we assume we're all white guys. There is no hope for focus our outreach if we begin with that approach, whether it is merited or not. To promote free knowledge, we must assume that everyone is just someone and the bridge is built from there.
On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 12:21 AM, Fred Bauder fredbaud@fairpoint.netwrote:
I wish I could live in the world you wish, where poverty and oppression of a people did not damage it. The question was not whether there are a few who edit, but why there is not mass participation, and trouble when it does emerge.
Fred Bauder
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