Urban League’s Morial Responds to Pew Broadband Report

(Editor’s note: Last Friday, I received an e-mail containing a statement issued by Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, Janet Murguía, president and CEO of The National Council of La Raza, and Rey Ramsey, CEO of One Economy Corporation. To be frank, the statement doesn’t dispute or question the findings of Pew’s broadband report but rather states the collective’s position in addressing the disparities Pew noted between mainstream use of broadband and African American progress in using the technology.  Read the partial statement below and your comments are invited. – Thank you, Robin)

June 17, 2009

Broadband with a Purpose: Our Economic Success Depends On It

A Response to the Pew Research Center’s Annual Survey of Internet Usage

By Marc Morial, Janet Murguía and Rey Ramsey

Washington, DC – Today, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project released

their annual national study on Internet usage. The results showed significant increases in

broadband adoption and Internet use across every demographic but one. African Americans’ use

of broadband increased at a rate well below the national average for the second consecutive year.

Last year, 43 percent of African Americans had broadband Internet connections at home. This

year, that figure is 46 percent, an increase the Pew survey refers to as “not significant

statistically.”

It’s worth noting that the figures for Latinos are well above average, both in terms of broadband

adoption and the rate of increase. According to the survey, 68 percent of Latinos now have

connections at home as compared to a national average of 63 percent. This is positive news, to be

sure, but a more complete picture might have emerged had respondents been given the option to

take the survey in Spanish.

Increased Internet access expands an individuals’ access to resources such as education, health

care, employment and financial supports. These areas offer the potential to improve lives and, in

turn, contribute to our national economy as people become engaged and productive citizens. The

Internet is no longer the luxury it perhaps once was. Our ability to compete in today’s 21st century

economy depends on it. (Read the rest HERE.)