For this week’s anti-racist post, I would like to thank Tiffany Arce (@tarce29) for sharing the video below on Twitter. The video was created in support of the 1 Million Project, which was formed in 2017 to give more students access to high-speed internet at home. The initial concern was the academic rift that was being created between students with and without this advantage on homework assignments. As we all know, that rift became gargantuan when entire school days ended up online due to the pandemic.

The embedded video is a simple demonstration of the difference that high-speed internet access can make during one activity on one day in the life of a student. Aside for the fact that the quality and quantity of homework assignments is a topic that needs to be addressed in our education system, I think that we need to accept the fact that high speed internet access has become a necessity rather than a luxury. Even as we are in the process of distributing vaccines right now, people in many parts of the country are at a huge disadvantage if they cannot receive digital information about the availability and method for signing up.

According to the data, an inordinate amount of students who do not have any or adequate internet connections at home are students of color. This is another example of how systemic racism continues to suppress student achievement in education.

If you are a teacher, please consider this carefully when you assign any work to be done at home. In addition, we all need to do what we can to rectify this by supporting programs that provide high speed internet to entire communities instead of just a privileged few.

I will be adding this post to my list of Anti-Racism posts on Wakelet. Please consider sharing it with others, especially those who have the power to make a difference in the classroom.