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The History—and Disturbing Resurrection—of Black Androids

The History—and Disturbing Resurrection—of Black Androids

When Elon Musk unveiled his idea for the Tesla bot, it evoked a racist phenomenon dating back to the 18th century

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Virginia Heffernan
Feb 23, 2022
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The History—and Disturbing Resurrection—of Black Androids
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Musk converses with US Vice President Mike Pence, the Second Lady, and other officials
Elon Musk with Mike Pence. (Wiki photo)

TWENTY YEARS AGO, dotcom evangelists wouldn't shut up about the web as a land of milk and honey, an egalitarian Eden. But their utopianism hit a reckoning in 2002: “Future Texts,” Alondra Nelson's watershed essay about race and technology.

“That race (and gender) distinctions would be eliminated with technology,” wr…

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