Apparently when you type in “Nigger House,” into Google Maps, the White House pulls up. I think we all know why so I will spare us all a sarcastic rant. One likely cause, according to the Huffington Post, it’s the work of hackers who create fake Google Maps entries by going through the trouble of having Google send a verification card to the address that they wish, while creating fake accounts for the place and business.
As you can imagine, I find this entirely unassuming. But I wanted to see just how well our “post-racial” society is doing in this context by entering “nigger” in various major cities around the United States and seeing what happens. With the help of my colleague, Daniel Hayes, this is what we found:
Northeast
1. Washington D.C.
Note: Typing “house” or not doesn’t make a difference.
2. Baltimore
3. Boston
4. New York City
5. Philadelphia
Midwest
6. Detroit
7. Chicago
8. Kansas City
9. St. Louis
10. Madison
11. Milwaukee
Note: A publication for local residents in the area.
12. Minneapolis
13. Omaha
South
14. Atlanta
15. Dallas
16. Durham
Note: We initially put in Raleigh, and it pushed out to Durham.
17. Houston
18. Lexington
19. Miami
20. Memphis
21. Montgomery
22. Nashville
Note: Grand Ol’ Opry…which is apparently a country music stage. Beats me.
23. New Orleans
24. Savannah
WEST
25. Albuquerque
Note: Director’s Choice is a mortuary services company.
26. Los Angeles
27. Olympia
28. Phoenix
29. Salt Lake City
Note: Salt Lake City didn’t actually have anything; it pushes out to Park City.
30. San Diego
31. San Francisco
BONUS: Toronto
Notes: Honolulu and Anchorage were also entered and fielded no results. There may be a reason for some of these places to show up, such as in the case of Lexington, in which Kentucky State is a traditionally Black university. And well, someone thought it would be great idea to refer to it in such a derogatory manner with Google Maps. But we don’t know the story behind all these places. Either way, the humor that this sort of hacking might entail is undoubtedly in poor taste. 
