South Carolina Wins Again!

Where do Google searches  for the word “nigger” come from?
  (With apologies but, the term Google studied was the full, spelled out obscenity, AKA the “N word” if one is being politically correct.

Where do America’s most racist people live?  My brother in law, William Quick  lives in South Carolina and insists that my harangues about South Carolina  are unfair.  I am certain he would deny that he or his friends are racists.  He might be right, I have ns idea who he hangs with down there.  As for South Carolina,  SC did elect a black senator, even if the guy is a Tea Party type!

 UPDATE: Dr. Quick just (3:30 4/28) called me to protest … he threatened to take me to court unless I delete ” I am certain he would deny that he or his friends are racists.”  Before I could ask what he meant, he hung up.

For the record, Bill has made many similar threats to sue me  and even complained to my employer that THE Ave.US publishes porn! Oh well, to be clear, I have no reason to think that Bill is a racist and assume he is just sensitive about living in the North Charleston, the city where a (black) citizen was just quite literally executed on video by a cop.

Bill might also read to the end of this essay before getting upset. The esay does not suggest that South Carolina is the worst place in  the US.  The Google study suggests that the rust belt may be even more racist!)

Bill is not unusual for a white guy living there.  If you ask folks “are you a racist?” they will say no.  Same thing if you ask if they use the N-word.  But, hang around the bars or gas station in racist country and see how often the President gets called “that nigger” versus some euphemism like “that colored guy!”

A new study just published in PLOS ONE uses  Google search data to see how often “nigger” is searched.    The author, Stephens-Davidowitz, previously wrote:  “Google searchers are online and likely alone, both of which make it easier to express socially taboo thoughts. Individuals, indeed, note that they are unusually forthcoming with Google.”

Does Googling “nigger” matter?  The researchers tested this by looking for  correlations with higher mortality rates for blacks:  “Results from our study indicate that living in an area characterized by a one standard deviation greater proportion of racist Google searches is associated with an 8.2% increase in the all-cause mortality rate among Blacks.”

So, South Carolina and even the confederacy are not the worst places in the US.  It is startling that use of “nigger” is also popular along the eastern side of the mid west .. the rust belt.  Moreover, Google has no way of telling WHO is dropping the N bomb.  Maybe it is gangsta type black folks looking for rap lyrics?

Could it be that racism on the web is causing black folks to die?