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September 12, 2021
Internet Deserts Are Creating A Permanent Underclass
by JuJuan Buford | Entrepreneur, Writer, Business Development | @JSBUFORD
Drafting and redrafting this editorial, and writing in general has been tough for me personally throughout the months of August and September. I feel duplicitous about the conditions that are coloring the lives of Detroit’s citizens and it’s entrepreneurs specifically. On one hand, I honestly cannot wait to turn the page on the COVID-19 induced pandemic. I want to move on from the 40% of business owners who were ravaged irrecoverably from the pandemic, and focus on the 60% that survived and highlight those that are thriving amidst the turmoil. And I believe ardently that we must focus our attention forward if we are to build thriving, competitive enterprises in the 21rst century. You don’t win races by staring in the rear view mirror.
Still, I found myself staring at an image on the wall of The Commons located on Mack Avenue a couple weeks ago. Anyone who’s visited the eatery slash laundromat knows the tribute I’m referring to of what Mack Avenue looked like during the African American community’s economic and entrepreneurial heyday. I found myself imagining what it would have been like to walk the streets of Mack Avenue and Black Bottom before racial pandemics swept through the United States disenfranchising ebony people, and eradicating their businesses and wealth.
My mind wondered to the financial pandemic that eviscerated black wealth in Detroit during the 2008 recession. And how it literally broke the backs of Detroit’s residents, transforming homeowners into renters. The job losses, plunging credit scores, divorces, and the funneling of families who were already operating on razor thin margins into subsistence living.
However, the most recent pandemic is particularly pernicious because it has exposed and further exacerbated a digital divide that is directly and fundamentally impacting the financial and commercial viability of our communities. Despite the incredible opportunities presented by the digital economy, the existence of internet deserts is nothing short of catastrophic. Further compounding the issue is the closure of schools, public libraries, workplaces, and cafes that were once a free source of internet access.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to access the internet was widely debated by some as an essential service, on par with the provision of water, electricity, and other utilities. Others argued that it was a privilege or a welcomed convenience. However the necessity of internet access for the well being of communities, and more specifically business development is no longer debatable. Internet access directly determines a community’s ability to access educational resources, adequate medical services, the ability to secure employment, secure transportation, or simply acquire groceries depending on the zip code you reside in. For the super-majority of business owners, access to the internet is as almost as valuable as capital itself.
Due to the public's increased appetite for digital products and services, coupled with the fact that consumers are now making buying decisions based on businesses’ existence online, not leveraging the internet is tantamount to operating in complete obscurity. And as the pandemic continues to accelerate our usage and dependence upon the internet, the existence of internet deserts has become an even more prominent subject. African American entrepreneurs who lack access, fail to accept, or underestimate the fact that people's buying habits and expectations have forever been altered will meet a slow, painful demise.
According to most reports the lack of internet equity is not an issue that exists solely in cities like Detroit; most notably a Microsoft communication published in 2019 indicating the number of people without high speed internet is approaching 162.8 million Americans. And it’s not likely that telecom companies will continue to offer programs providing free and discounted internet services indefinitely. Additionally, the level of services provided by these programs are not adequate enough to support the needs of entrepreneurs.
There are those that would argue that the most effective way to address the existence of internet deserts is to allow the private sector to provide solutions for more equitable access, but what has that gotten us? How well has the private sector done providing access to grocery stores or alternative places where residents can purchase healthy, nutritious foods? How well has the private sector provided competitive, accessible educational opportunities from the elementary level to college? How effective has the private sector provided affordable housing for U.S. citizens; specifically those living in Detroit?
According to a research project, Mapping Detroit’s Digital Divide, published by the University of Michigan, 70% of Detroit’s school age children live in households that do not have internet services. The degree of disparity is a clear indicator of the savage inequalities that exist in the city of Detroit for African American residents. It’s beyond alarming. When you consider most businesses being born today are home-based, micro-businesses the severity of these circumstances become deafening.
What is required is a systemic approach from the federal, state, and city government to address the challenge of internet desserts; coupled with the ingenuity and capital of civic and private interests. The impetus must come from the federal government via funding (with incentives geared toward providing access in areas where the need is greatest) and the bully pulpit to sound the alarm about the deleterious impact of allowing millions of U.S. citizens across the country to be shut off from the broader economy.
Perhaps the retrofitting of already existing places where people congregate and access internet services can be an answer. I imagine the first group of entrepreneurs to make internet cafes more profitable would enjoy an incredible windfall. Or the provision of co-working spaces not just for entrepreneurs, but an increasing number of stay at home workers and employees working in the digital marketing space. Sitting still by your lonesome in front of a computer smashing pizza and chips is bad for one's temperament, the knees, and waistline. Just a couple thoughts.
The #1 question on the top of everyone’s mind should be how do we make the ground more fertile for hungry minds, able bodies, and people with vision?
Else, what is the impact of these conditions if they continue to persist? As the rest of the world, the nation, and the winners in the 21rst century economy are barreling forward, African American families and neighborhoods in Detroit are being set up for an existence as a permanent underclass. It is imperative that Detroit’s business and political class become galvanized by this threat to equality and the ability to be competitive in today’s society.
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Company Site > https://thebufordco.com/
Who is JuJuan Buford > https://bit.ly/JuJuanBufordOfficial
Website: https://thebufordco.com/
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