The World Wide Web is often heralded as a great equalizer, a virtual reality free of color and class consciousness. Yet research institutions and journalists have recently called attention to (1) the disproportionately low use of the web by minority and low-income Americans, and (2) their lack of representation on the web.

Concurrently an increasing number of sites are addressed to particular ethnic groups. NetNoir aims "to be the #1 Black interactive online community in the world" by providing a space for black-oriented news, social interaction, and links to black businesses. LatinoNet promises a Latino Cyber Space Community in order to "empower the Latino community."

Choose a web site devoted to an ethnic or racial group. What are its announced–or implied–aims? How does it cater to this particular audience? What visual and verbal techniques does it use to address this audience? Comment on its effectiveness.

Now consider the ways in which you can compare entering this ethnic web site to the experience of entering an ethnic neighborhood in a city or a town. Describe the experience of entering an ethnic neighborhood–as either an insider or an outsider. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the ways in which entering a web site devoted to a particular ethnic group is similar to–or different from–actually walking into an ethnic neighborhood.

Before beginning your assignments, you may want to look at a web community that is not identified with any specific ethnic group in order to get a sense of the standard conventions of such communities; try a generic Internet gateway such as Alta Vista or Netscape Home. In this way, you will have a better sense of what elements appeal to an ethnic audience when they visit either the web sites suggested by the text or other sites.

You might spend some time at Africana. What is the mission statement of this site? (Look for an "About Us" link.) To what extent do you think it achieves its goals? What are Africana’s strategies for creating a sense of an ethnic community online?

Use a search engine to find a museum devoted to the art and culture of a specific ethnic group. Two excellent examples are Amagazine, an Asian American magazine, and the Heard Museum, devoted to showcasing Native American culture. Write an essay that compares and contrasts the construction and focus of each site. What messages does each one send about the culture it features? Does the site assume that the visitor holds any preconceptions about this culture? How does it incorporate into the site the imagery and design associated with the culture?