Dust in the Light

Author: Ben Thompson (Stratechery) URL: https://stratechery.com/2020/dust-in-the-light/ One-line: Written in the wake of George Floyd’s killing — using Madison, WI’s racial “crescent” and the printing-press analogy, Thompson argues the Internet is a gargantuan amoral force that, like sunlight on dust, makes long-invisible racism impossible to unsee.

Key claims

• In 1996 Madison, WI was christened the best place to live in America by Money Magazine; in 2016 blogger Lew Blank observed Madison’s racial distribution formed a crescent.
• The crescent is stark: 23/23 schools with above-average free/reduced-lunch usage and 24/24 schools with below-average reading proficiency fall along it.
• 2018 Madison disparities: African Americans were 7% of the population but 43% of arrests and 46% of Dane County Jail inmates; 18% of students but 57% of suspensions; large gaps in math proficiency and average home prices ($145,300 in Burr Oaks vs. $300,967 citywide).
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s framing (LA Times): racism in America is like dust in the air — invisible even as you choke on it, until you let the sun in.
• Much historical presidential racism happened in “darkened rooms” / secret tapes; Trump needs none — his public Twitter account does it openly.
• The Internet/printing-press parallel: the drastic reduction in fixed costs means anyone can become a publisher — Zuckerberg’s “Fifth Estate” where people express themselves at scale, bypassing traditional gatekeepers.
• Floyd’s death “overwhelmed” a century of institutionalized racism because of a post on Facebook; protests and looting were organized on social media and circulated worldwide. The Internet is an amoral force — positive or negative — but gargantuan.

Notable quotes

“African Americans have been living in a burning building for many years, choking on the smoke as the flames burn closer and closer. Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air.” — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The United States really does have a president named Donald Trump who uses extremely problematic terms — in all caps! — for African Americans and quotes segregationist police chiefs, and social media, for better or worse, is ultimately a reflection of humanity. Facebook deleting Trump’s post won’t change that fact, but it will, at least for a moment, turn out the lights, hiding the dust.

People having the power to express themselves at scale is a new kind of force in the world — a Fifth Estate alongside the other power structures of society. People no longer have to rely on traditional gatekeepers in politics or media to make their voices heard, and that has important consequences. — Mark Zuckerberg

And yet, look again at this past week: a century of institutionalized racism in Minneapolis was not necessarily overthrown, but certainly overwhelmed in the case of George Floyd, because of a post on Facebook… The Internet is an amoral force — it can effect both positive and negative outcomes — but what cannot be underestimated is how gargantuan a force it is.

Notes

• The Madison “crescent” data points (2018): arrests, jail population, school suspensions, math-proficiency gap (10% of African American students “advanced/proficient” vs. 61% of white students), and the Burr Oaks vs. citywide home-price gap. #Politics
• The printing-press comparison draws on Thompson’s 2019 The Internet and the Third Estate: the press overthrew the First Estate (leading to nation-states and a new nobility); empowering commoners to overthrow the Second Estate is “almost too radical to imagine.”

How it connects

• Facebook ($META) — the platform at the center: Trump’s posts, the Fifth Estate, the dust-revealing light.
• The Internet and the Third Estate — the prior Thompson essay supplying the printing-press / Fifth Estate frame.
• Madison, WI — the case study of an “best place to live” city with a stark racial crescent.
• Ben Thompson / Stratechery — author and publication.