Yesterday, we reported on a ranking that listed Maryland as the state with the highest level of workplace gender equality. But just as we were starting to feel proud of ourselves, another ranking reminded us of just how far we still have to go.
According to analysis of thousands of Twitter posts, Baltimore has the fifth-highest incidence of “derogatory language against women” on Twitter of any city in the nation; out of every 100,000 tweets originating in Baltimore, more than 2,000 of them will contain some form of sexist language. Even more alarmingly, Baltimore holds the number-one spot for anti-black tweets per capita. On a state-by-state basis, the only place with more anti-black slurs on Twitter than Maryland is good old West Virginia. (If you’d like to read specific examples of what the study authors meant by “derogatory language,” well, here you go.)
Of course, the words people use on Twitter are hardly paint a complete picture of discrimination. Even so, it’s an alarming indication of how far we still have to go.
Why didn’t you search derogatory terms for White people ? Why was that not included ? Are you bigoted ?
Did they subtract out the friendly, term of endearment, use of the N word, that is totally acceptable from one African American to another? That alone could totally skew this study in the top 4 cities. I bet that’s what we’re seeing here.