Having an Internet Connection is a Civil Rights Issue

In the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of schools across the country (and the world) have switched to all-online, remote distance learning. Unfortunately, this move to an all-online model has once again widened America’s social divide and urban/rural divide. It is demonstrating that a high-speed, stable internet connection is now not something reserved for the privileged few, but a service required for everyone.

Thousands of people living in rural America are now starting to discover the true limits of internet service. Jobs once performed in-person, like education, medical care, government service, and so on are now done on the internet, exposing a deep rift between those that enjoy a high-speed internet connection at home and those that cannot.

In many rural communities across America, internet service is often too expensive or simply unavailable, forcing people to go to parking lots outside schools and libraries, internet cafes, and other such places to connect to the internet. Despite the world increasingly demanding a reliable internet connection, government initiatives have failed to deliver high-speed internet service to all Americans.

Unlike the Rural Electrification Administration in the New Deal era which brought electricity to small communities and unprofitable areas in rural America via federal initiatives and loans, there is no centralized effort to bring internet to rural communities. Large swaths of the country do not have internet service, due to a lack of perceived profit for broadband companies and the high cost of expanding fiber optics to remote communities.

The New York Times has reported that anywhere between 21 and 42 million Americans lack a reliable connection, with up to one-quarter of rural Americans lacking service. That is a staggering number for something which is basically considered a necessity to modern life. And even when people do live in areas where it won’t cost $10,000 just to have broadband installed, many poorer people are unable to afford any more than $10 a month for the internet. Free internet in Starbucks is often faster than the internet provided at that price.

Especially with the unemployment rate skyrocketing and people increasingly unable to pay the bills, more and more Americans are relying on internet hotspots, like school buses parked in various neighborhoods, internet cafes, and trying to access a closed school or library’s internet connection from the parking lot.

With major school districts like Los Angeles, Houston, Nashville, and Atlanta going online-only this fall, it once again draws debate upon the fact that poorer children are disadvantaged by the school system. Understandably, it is quite difficult for a student to be focused on their online learning when they need to drive 30 minutes each way just to connect to the internet and attend class. This is proving to be a major problem for the already-disadvantaged schoolchildren by adding another concern to the growing list.

Some teachers that live in more rural areas are also struggling to host classes with an unreliable rural internet connection. Again, they need to drive to internet hotspots far from home in order to be able to work their normal jobs.

Until a more centralized effort can be coordinated to bring internet to all Americans, though, the country is likely to still have large swaths of unconnected areas, further dividing the rich and poor and continuing to disadvantage lower-income families. Connecting to school bus hotspots and internet cafes are an extremely Band-Aid solution to the problem. We need a federal initiative to fund internet connectivity to all Americans, no matter where they live. Having an internet connection is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity, and quickly becoming a civil rights issue.