By Jane Brown & amalia deloney

Baltimore City has a digital divide. COVID didn’t create this; rather, our digital divide is an outgrowth of pre-existing disparities, exacerbated by a global pandemic. The result is that Black and Latinx communities in our city are disproportionately harmed by both the COVID-19 virus and the economic recession. Recovery for Baltimore will be hard; but it will be outright impossible to “Build Back Better” unless we address the racial impact of the digital divide.

If COVID-19 has illuminated anything, it’s the fact that access to the internet is a necessity for achieving social and economic inclusion. It’s a job creator, an education provider, and a driver of innovation, creativity and social change. In short, it’s an essential service. Yet, across the city, 96,000 households lack home internet access. Black and Latinx residents overwhelmingly bear the brunt. Not only are they the most impacted by the digital divide, they are also the most impacted by educational setbacks, economic loss, food insecurity and compromised health conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is why the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) is critical. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program provides discounted broadband and connected devices for low-income consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a part of the pandemic recovery plan, the Consolidated Appropriations Act established an Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund of $3.2 billion in the U.S. Treasury for the fiscal year 2021, in order to provide eligible low-income households a discount on the cost of broadband service and certain connected devices during the emergency period relating to the pandemic.

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