Racial Gap Persists in Internet Access: Census Report

WI Web Staff December 5, 2017

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In this April 30, 2015 photo, Leticia Fonseca, 16, left, and her twin sister, Sylvia Fonseca, right, work in the computer lab at Cuyama Valley High School after taking the new Common Core-aligned standardized tests in New Cuyama, Calif. The Cuyama Joint Unified School District is 60 miles from the nearest city and has Internet connections about one-tenth the minimum speed recommended for the modern U.S. classroom. Across the country, school districts in rural areas and other pockets with low bandwidth are confronting a difficult task of administering new Common Core-aligned standardized tests to students online. (AP Photo/Christine Armario)

Although the acquisition of home computers have made access to the internet more commonplace, a significant gap still exists when it comes to usage of both computers and the internet by minorities, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report.

The report, titled “Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2015,” shows that 88 percent of non-Hispanic White households had a computer in the home, compared to 80.1 percent of Black households. In addition, about 81.7 percent of White households had a desktop or laptop computer, compared to 65.1 percent of Black households.

However, in 2015 nearly 80 percent of all White households had a contract to provide internet access, compared to 65 percent of Black households that had a subscription to an internet service, the report said.

Previous research has shown that African-Americans are more likely than Whites to use smartphones — often Blacks’ only access point to the internet.