Nakamura Reading

This Nakamura reading brings up interesting ideas about how racism can be tied into how websites are designed. I found it interesting and informative; in fact I hope to tie one or two of her points into some reading I am also doing about the rhetoric of programming for another class.

One of the main points I feel Nakemura points out is to understand that the internet can often times offer us a very limited view of the world. I need to remember this, both as a user and a designer. I cannot let myself think that this narrow view is the majority view. Or even worse – the only view.

When Nakamura gives the example of the Excite website and it’s use of different races I found that something she pointed out toward the end of the example to be very important. She said that “the menu isn’t requiring the user to identify her race by clicking on the link” but the problem is that it’s using “outmoded and at times overtly racist language of demographic census”. This means the designer is taking an already racists problem and having their design become a part of it.

Overall I feel this reading reminded me to never let myself think that the websites I will design somehow don’t tie into the issues of race that we are facing as a culture today. I should be aware of what my design is saying about race. Do I assume that my audience is white? Do I have a narrow or racists view of racial identity in my design? Do I rely on stereotypes or appropriate other cultures in my design?