The Social in Media: Race, History, and the Visualizing Cultures Controversy at MIT

Abstract

Online communication has a tendency to operate without clear contextual cues. What does the Visualizing Cultures controversy say about the contexts in which race, Asians, and history intersect? The website All Look Same offers an intriguing example of the difficulties of combating racism. As we come into contact with images online, we expand our awareness but also simultaneously move into realms where we have only a limited grasp of the contexts in which things are made, and the goals to which they aspire.