"I can't wait to go to a ballgame!" exclaimed our vaccinated son, who is an adult on the autistic spectrum.
Our son lives independently and holds two jobs, at which he worked safely for the entire pandemic. My husband and I bought tickets to a Twins-Yankees game and prepared to hand the tickets to him so he could attend with his friend, only to find he needed an app on a smartphone to enter the baseball stadium.
I am technologically savvy, but there are many people who are not. We were told there was no way to download and print a paper copy of the tickets for my son. In order to get a hard-copy ticket, we would have had to pay an extra $10 when we bought the ticket. Then our son would have had to stand at a "will call" window to pick it up.
Having a smartphone and the ability to access an app in a busy crowd (which is already overstimulating, not just for people with special needs, but for the elderly, young or at-risk populations) blocks access to events, creating what I call "digital cultural redlining." It excludes many populations from even considering attending most sporting events, concerts, plays and other opportunities that in the past just required a paid ticket you could give upon entry. No longer can you donate a ticket or hand a physical ticket to a grandparent or a grandchild or a kid on the block and say, "Why don't you go to the ballgame today?"
"Digital redlining" is an academic term that describes the practice of creating and perpetuating inequities between already marginalized groups by specifically using digital technologies, digital content and the internet. Digital cultural redlining expands this practice and describes how we are restricting access to the cultural events that bring us together. It flies in the face of all the goals of inclusion, equity and diversity that the majority culture claims it wants to achieve. Our public moneys have subsidized many of these venues and events. All people deserve access. Leaving empty seats at an event denies all of us the opportunity to come together as a community to inspire and uplift.
Even if phones and data were free, this would not solve digital cultural redlining. Isn't this the time when we should open access to all of our cultural events so that people in marginalized communities are not excluded? Shouldn't everyone who has bought or has been given a ticket be able to easily gain admittance?
Wendy Rubinyi, of Minneapolis, is an educator.
