Blacks and Hispanics are half as likely to own computers as whites. This finding, from a U.S. Department of Commerce report, shows a correlation between access to technology and race, the Associated Press reported May 25.

The report, Falling Through the Net II: New Data on the Digital Divide, provides evidence that whites are more likely than people of color to go online, AP reported.

"The ramifications are enormous in terms of jobs and where minorities will be in the new millennium," says B. Keith Fulton, director of technology programs and policy for the National Urban League.

David Ellington, founder of NetNoir, a Web site for African-Americans, sees things differently.

"Black folks will embrace the technology of the Internet as soon as it becomes more relevant to our lives,'' Ellington says.

Across all incomes, the Commerce Department report said, about 41 percent of white families own PCs, compared to about 19 percent of black and Hispanic families.

About 76 percent of white families with incomes over $75,000 own home computers, compared with 64 percent of black families at the same income level.

A third report is scheduled for release in June.

Most believe that owning a computer is just part of the fight to get minorities online.

"The biggest problem in the underserved community is not necessarily the hardware," said David Eisner, vice president for corporate relations for America Online, the world's largest Internet access and online service provider. "We can put all the hardware in the world into a community, but until it's valued, it won't do well. The content has to be what people want."

Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/
breaking/ap/docs/478348l.htm