A recent study examining derogatory language use on Twitter ranks Baltimore City highest in racial slurs against African Americans.
The study, conducted by the apartment listing website ABODO, says Baltimore tops the list with 82 anti-black tweets sent out of every 100,000. Overall, Maryland is the second highest state to send anti-black tweets, following behind West Virginia at No. 1.
The study says it combed Twitter for several slurs including the N-word, and while openly tweeting derogatory comments isn’t a very common practice, the data may point to prejudice at a local level—particularly in cities with high African American populations.
On the other hand, Maryland topped the list for usage of neutral and tolerant language in reference to African Americans. Marylanders were more likely to tweet neutral terms such as “black person” and “African American” in every 125.7 per 100,000 tweets.
The “America’s Most P.C. and Prejudiced Places” study is part of ABODO’s Best Places to Live series examining “the language Americans use when tweeting about different races, ethnicities, genders, religions, and sexual orientations.”
The group analyzed more than 12 million tweets from June 2014 to December 2015.
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