Tag: Student Weekly Blog

Monroe Work, a pioneer in the field of sociology, confidently asserted, “In the end facts will help eradicate prejudice and misunderstanding, for facts are the truth and the truth shall set us free” [1]. However, individuals and organizations often manipulate or misuse facts to promote their own views. For this reason, it is important to approach historical data visualization from an ethical standpoint, but although there are ways in which one can attempt to avoid bias, it is virtually impossible to eliminate entirely. This is especially true for maps because even seemingly minor elements like color, symbols, and interactivity can influence how viewers interpret data.

In “Racism in the Machine: Visualization Ethics in Digital Humanities Projects,” Katherine Hepworth and Christopher Church emphasized that to showcase data ethically, one must mitigate any harm to viewers and the subjects of a study as well as maximize the project’s ability to communicate information [2]. The authors then proposed an ethical visualization workflow that should be used when creating digital humanities projects, such as maps, to help eliminate bias and misrepresentations. The workflow introduces several steps that are part of one of three phases: pre-data collection, data curation and collection, and data visualizing and argumentation.

By examining two mapping projects, Hepworth and Church were able to explain how researchers can apply this ethical approach to the creation and use of data visualizations. The first map that the authors analyzed was “Lynching in America: Racial Terror Lynchings,” created by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). This is a choropleth map showing the number of reported lynchings (of African Americans) across US counties between 1877 and 1950. 

The map is visually striking. It uses a red color ramp to indicate the number of lynchings in each county, and against the dark background, this color indicates what it represents: bloodshed. Before even exploring the map and website, I was already well acquainted with EJI’s mission from previously reading Just Mercy and hearing the organization’s founder, Bryan Stevenson, speak in person at Creighton last year. Therefore, despite the map’s title suggesting otherwise, I was able to conclude that these lynchings only involved African Americans. When interpreting the map, it is important to know this background because it fuels EJI’s argument that historical violence and prejudice against blacks is at the foundation of their disproportionate representation within the current criminal justice system. Therefore, the map is merely a “promotional and advocacy tool” for EJI [2].

To most viewers, this map appears credible at first glance, especially as it is supported by Google, but on further inspection, it introduces some unethical implications. To begin with, it utilizes raw data, which is improper for a choropleth map. As Hepworth and Church noted, the number of lynchings in each county should be normalized against census population data [2]. This would eliminate any disproportionate representations of lynchings in each county. Moreover, this map also contains notable silences. As already mentioned, it solely focuses on African Americans who were lynched. The map is also limited by choices made during the data collection phase about what constitutes a “lynching.” The criteria chosen allowed EJI to create “a narrative around racial violence that excludes other minorities and other geographic locales” [2]. The map does, in fact, ignore much of the North and West, casting it in a dark color, and it primarily focuses the viewer’s attention on the South, which is bright red.

Hepworth and Church also examined “Map of White Supremacy’s Mob Violence,” a different map conveying similar but more nuanced data, which provided a better ethical visualization of racial lynching in the United States. This map, developed from research done by Monroe Work, has several key differences from the one produced by EJI that lend it greater credibility. To start, it is a complex and interactive dot density map, spanning from 1848 to 2021, which makes it relevant even in the contemporary era.

The aim of this map is arguably to “confront the user with the temporal and racial extent of white superiority-motivated lynchings, both qualities that are absent from the Racial Terrors Lynchings map” [2]. Thus, the scope of what this map covers is much larger, and it fills in gaps that the EJI did not cover. Most obviously, Work’s map includes the lynchings of several different races, not just African Americans. This demonstrates that racial violence was not limited to one group. 

These dots are much more widespread than lynchings represented on the EJI’s map, where they were mainly clustered in the South. Additionally, each dot represents a reported lynching, including the name, where available, of every person as well as the year the lynching occurred. This information is also accompanied by a link to sources that viewers can click on to discover more. In doing so, this incorporates a sense of humanity and greater credibility into the project that EJI’s map lacks.

Therefore, this second map provides a better example of an ethical visualization of data. This difference is namely apparent in the two maps’ arguments and silences (or relative lack of), and this comparison demonstrates why Hepworth and Church’s proposed workflow is effective and practical.

References:

[1] Work, Monroe, and Florence Work. “Map of White Supremacy’s Mob Violence.” Plain Talk History. https://plaintalkhistory.com/monroeandflorencework/explore/map2/#4/37.85/-99.5/0/18.

[2] Hepworth, Katherine, and Christopher Church. “Racism in the Machine: Visualization Ethics in Digital Humanities Projects.” Digital Humanities Quarterly. Vol. 12, no. 4 (2018). http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/12/4/000408/000408.html.

[3] Equal Justice Initiative & Google. “Lynching in America: Racial Terror Lynchings.” https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore.

In 1815, William Smith created the “first true geological map of anywhere in the world” (Winchester, xvi). In fact, Smith’s endeavor to create this map was representative of the era he lived in. During the latter part of the eighteenth century, individuals began to more frequently question the world around them, and this contributed to greater freethinking. (Winchester, 24). As a result, there were new advancements in science as well as an increase in communication and literacy. Smith’s map is one such example of this.

In creating this map, Smith aimed to show different rock layers, or strata, in England. As shown by examples in the image below, the map’s key displays various colors that Smith employed to distinguish between the different strata. 

This map was a significant advancement in science, especially within the fields of geology and biology, because it countered the commonly held (but inaccurate) views about the nature of the earth that were influenced by religion. As Smith began to unravel the mysteries of the earth, he discovered new information that led to other developments, such as Darwin’s theory of evolution (Scott).

Compared to the 1815 version, Smith’s 1828 map appears similar due to the coloring but has some variations. To begin with, the map from 1828 includes detail more clearly. It includes the most relevant roads and towns in a way that appears less congested than the 1815 version. 

Also, in the top right of the 1828 map, there is a label which signifies that the map shows coal districts.

At the time, the Industrial Revolution was still in full swing, and it “focused England’s attention on the compressed, hardened remains of ancient swamps – coal” (Scott). To harness this valuable resource and make it readily available, efficient transportation was essential, and England attempted to create canals for this purpose. William Smith worked as a surveyor for these canals, and this enabled him to map strata across the country (Scott). This enabled him to create such a detailed geological map of strata which was modified in 1828 to help coal prospectors identify what was underneath the surface of the earth and subsequently, where to dig. Thus, the 1828 version was more practical than Smith’s 1815 map, which was largely scientific, in the sense that it was used to promote industry.

References:

Scott, Michon. “William Smith (1769-1839).” NASA. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/WilliamSmith.

Smith, William. A New Geological Map of England and Wales With the Inland Navigations Exhibiting the Districts of Coal and Other Sites of Mineral Tonnage. 1828. “William Smith’s Maps – Interactive.” http://www.strata-smith.com/map/#info.

Smith, William. Geology of England and Wales with Part of Scotland. 1815. “William Smith’s Maps – Interactive.” http://www.strata-smith.com/map/#info.

Winchester, Simon. The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology. New York, NY: Perennial, 2002.

The UK, whilst appearing as a relatively unimpressive island adjacent to continental Europe, is somehow, throughout most of history, the luckiest empire in the world. In addition to colonizing over half the globe, when the Industrial Revolution rolled around, British people seemed to luck out once more, realizing their island is a giant mountain of coal.

Winchester, Simon. “A Land Awakening from Sleep.” The Map That Changed the World, Harper, 2001, p. 26.

However, Smith was more interested in rock stratification and fossils than coal. He mapped the stratifications of rock and rock layers in great detail.

William Smith’s Geological Map of England and Wales, from http://www.strata-smith.com/map/.

William Smith’s research worked in tandem with a relatively new and radical thought: the world existed long before the story of creation in the Bible’s Genesis.

From https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/WilliamSmith.

The questioning of literal Biblical interpretations spurred not only Smith’s research, but industrialization itself. In order to use the coal found, they had to shun the idea that the world didn’t exist until humans came along. This also shifted the perspective that natural laws governed the physical world, rather than metaphysical/theologian laws/ideas governing the physical world. William Smith’s map came at a time when there was a shifting emphasis to scientific explanation and reason than focus on the spiritual.

Although Smith’s map is crucial to understanding the world and what lies beneath, his map didn’t do well, as the British government seemed to trend more towards mapping coal mines and points of monetary value, rather than academic. Later, these maps were important for the transportation of coal through digging canals around England, but were relatively overlooked until then, with Smith rotting in a debtor’s prison and living in poverty upon his release. Later, when the Industrial Revolution kicked into full-steam, his maps were crucial in water management (aquifers identified), location of coal deposits, and canal construction.