Google searches for 'n-word' associated with black mortality

Google searches could unveil patterns in Black mortality rates across the US, according to a new University of Maryland study. Researchers found that those areas with greater levels of racism, as indexed by the proportion of Google searches containing the "n-word," had higher mortality rates among Blacks. The study, led by David H. Chae, assistant professor of epidemiology in the University of Maryland School of Public Health, is the first to examine an Internet query-based measure of racism in relation to mortality risk, and is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

"Racial disparities in health and disease represent a significant public health concern. Research suggests that racism is a major culprit that contributes to the gap in mortality between Blacks and Whites," said Chae. "Our study points to the utility of an Internet-search based measure to monitor racism at the area-level and assess its impact on mortality."

Most research examining the link between racism and health has relied on people self-reporting whether they had been the victims of racial discrimination. These measures, however, may not fully capture the extent of racism in a geographic area given that racist acts are often not committed overtly. "Contemporary forms of racism are more subtle, and people may not recognize that the social insults they experience are driven by discrimination or prejudice," Chae explained. "Discrimination is more insidious today. Racism in major societal domains, such as in housing, employment, and criminal justice contexts continues despite the existence of protective legislation."

Given the challenges in measuring racism through surveys, the researchers used a proxy measure previously developed by Seth I. Stephens-Davidowitz, co-author on the study, that was based on the volume of searches for the "n-word" ending in -er- or -ers, not including those ending in -a or -as as such searches were shown to be used in different contexts. "Such Internet query-based measures may be less susceptible to self-censorship of socially unacceptable attitudes. They may also reflect those instances of racism that are covert or hidden," Chae explained. This measure does not necessitate that all searches containing the "n-word" are motivated by racism, or that all people holding racist attitudes conduct such searches. It only assumes that areas with a greater concentration of these searches have higher levels of racism overall. The researchers wanted to examine whether this measure would predict differences in Black mortality rates across the country.

They examined Black mortality rates in 196 media markets, which were compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics. Each one standard deviation increase in the level of area racism was related to an 8.2% greater all-cause Black mortality rate, which would be equivalent to over 30,000 deaths annually in the country. When they took into account additional demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of these areas, such as the number of Blacks, and levels of education and poverty, there remained a significant effect of area racism.