A new version of Mozilla has appeared, dubbed “Blackbird”. It’s a browser that offers features and content meant to appeal to members of the African-American (and possibly the African-Canadian) community.
“The company that developed Blackbird - a group called 40A Inc, says that the browser is designed to
[...] make it easier to find African American related content on the Internet and to interact with other members of the African American community online by sharing stories, news, comments and videos.
Through the use of embedded tools such as “Black Search”, Blackbird attempts to provide users with the best black content available on the web.”
I’m not really sure what to think about this… I’m sure once Blackbird is more mainstream there will be alot of debate on it but since when did race become a factor in web browsing? What’s next? WhiteLight? MellowYellow? BrownTown?
Personally when I browse for something I’m not looking for something from 1 point of view or that was written by someone of a particular race… how are we to judge arguements and ideas if the information we gather is geared towards a particular race?
Am I blind? Are web browsers made primarily for white people? What factors of IE, Firefox, etc are not geared to all races? Is this all a big marketing ploy? If it is well you got me cause it got me to write about it.
Do I have a problem with Blackbird? Nope… Do I see a reason/need for it? Nope. Would I use or care about a “WhiteLight” browser? Nope…. interesting topic of discussion never the less.
You know they need this because that damn Firefox or Internet Explorer only searches for white folk stuff. GIVE ME A BREAK.
I think it’s a very interesting marketing idea. I think it wouldn’t have the same “hype” if it was a browser geared towards a particular country ie) Polish Browser, Angola Browser, Italian Browser… etc but as soon as you call it a “black” or “white” or “brown” browser people immediately are going to associate it with racism.
I think it would give a limited point of view on subjects and if you’re searching the internet for information it’s best to get information from all points of view, not one geared towards someone of a particular race.
I find that this browser promotes a view that is a step backward in the fight for unity and against racism.
Also, you may want to check out this website. It shows all of the “black” organizations in North America. Just found it a little disturbing, and I don’t think there would be much allowance for the same thing, but “White” organizations.
http://www.littleafrica.com/resources/organizations.htm
It’s a very interesting topic and I appreciate everyone keeping the comments at a level that is appropriate.
I know there are probably alot of strong opinions on this type of thing so with that being said I will moderate the comments accordingly as I’m not trying to spark a racial debate