On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Fred Bauder
<fredbaud(a)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
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