Racism problem worse than I dreamed

Until today I had no idea front-door cams were racist:
Critics complain that the systems turn neighborhoods into places of constant surveillance and create suspicion that falls heavier on minorities. . . . Critics also say Ring, a subsidiary of Amazon, appears to be marketing its cameras by stirring up fear of crime at a time when it’s decreasing. . . . “Amazon is profiting off of fear,” said Chris Gilliard, an English professor at Michigan’s Macomb Community College and a prominent critic of Ring and other technology that he says can reinforce race barriers. Part of the strategy seems to be selling the cameras “where the fear of crime is more real than the actual existence of crime.”
Thanks, Prof. Gillard, but I think I'll make up my own mind how secure my front door is.  Do front-door lock manufacturers profit off fear?  If so, bully for them.  Ditto vaccine and airbag manufacturers.

I notice the linked AP article didn't even try to explain the race-barrier angle, because frankly that line of reasoning won't bear close scrutiny.

1 comment:

ColoComment said...

Somewhat related: I just saw this piece on a new neighborhood-"watch" technology. [pointer: Complete Colorado (https://completecolorado.com/)]

https://kdvr.com/2019/07/15/colorado-neighborhoods-using-license-plate-readers-to-reduce-crime-raising-privacy-concerns/

I live in a nice, relatively crime-free area of Ft. Collins CO, and even so my Nextdoor is filled with reports about cars broken into, items stolen from open garages, porch pirates, petty vandalism, bicycles stolen, etc. No, we don't have drive-by shootings or gang wars (I think, at least not yet). But we do have enough property crime to where it's desirable to install surveillance cameras.

It's not about race; it's about security of persons and things, which knows no skin color or ethnicity.