An Oregon State University study finds certain names elicit discrimination

In Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet,” the Capulet heroine asks her Montague lover, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”

As their two warring families prove, a name is more than just a word. Names can carry religious, political, cultural, socio-economic and geographic connotations by which people identify themselves and judge others.

A new study co-authored by William Loges, an Oregon State University assistant professor in new media communications and sociology, reveals that an ethnic-sounding name is enough to incite discrimination when it comes to housing.

Loges worked with Adrian Carpusor, his former student at the University of Southern California, to determine if there’s a disparity in replies to inquiries about rental housing that people get based on whether their names sound Caucasian, African American or Arab.

The results of this study were recently published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology and indicate that an African American faces more housing discrimination than both whites and Arabs.

“My jaw just hit the floor when I saw these results. I had no idea how badly the African American inquiry would be treated,” Loges said.

In 2003, Loges and Carpusor sent 1,115 identically worded e-mails to Los Angeles-area landlords asking about vacant apartments advertised online.

The e-mails were signed randomly, with an equal number coming from Patrick McDougall, Tyrell Jackson and Said Al-Rahman.

The three fictional names were based on Census Bureau rankings of popular first and last names and informal canvassing of the researchers’ colleagues and acquaintances within the ethnic groups suggested by those names.

McDougall received positive or encouraging responses from 89 percent of landlords, while Al-Rahman was encouraged by 66 percent.

Only 56 percent of landlords, however, replied positively to Jackson.

A positive response from a landlord was an e-mail saying the apartment was still open, or an invitation to view the property. A negative response was a reply that the apartment had already been rented or a lack of reply all together.

Because the data was collected around the time the conflict in Iraq began, and because post-Sept. 11 sentiments had poisoned many Americans against Muslims, Carpusor and Loges hypothesized that Al-Rahman would receive the fewest number of positive responses to his housing inquiries.

They were wrong.

Although other minority groups such as Latinos and Asians weren’t included in the study, Loges said it’s hard to imagine anyone doing better than Patrick McDougall.

Also, the fictitious McDougall received so many responses that it’s unlikely any of Los Angeles’ ethnic enclaves wouldn’t have welcomed him.

The same was not true for Tyrell Jackson, Loges said.

The authors had expected to find more discrimination by private landlords than corporate, but this wasn’t the case.

“There was little difference at all,” Loges said. “We thought that some of the bigger corporate complexes, which have hundreds and hundreds of units, would be more professionally run. They would have the resources to train their staffs on residential discrimination law.”

The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, family status and national origin. The provision against national origin discrimination specifically stipulates that it’s illegal to deny housing based on a name.

“Names are powerful indicators of who we are,” said Carpusor, who’s now a researcher with JD Power & Associates. “A recent interview on National Public Radio pointed out that a first name in Iraqi culture could disclose one’s affiliation with either the Shiite or Sunni Muslims — and that 16 men named Omar were killed one day because of that affiliation.”

Rent varied for the one-bedroom apartments inquired about in Loges and Carpusor’s study, but the cost made no difference in the outcome. Inquiries by the fictitious McDougall received more positive responses in all three income levels — less than $1,000, $1,000 to $1,500 and more than $1,500 per month.

Most of the negative responses were covert, meaning no reply at all. Al-Rahman was most likely to receive an overt negative response explicitly stating that the apartment had been rented and not to bother visiting.

Tyrell Jackson was the only person to receive responses reiterating the amount of rent, perhaps questioning his ability to afford the apartment. Jackson received nine replies with comments such as, “Please note that the rent is $1,100 a month.”

Although he’s done no research on local housing discrimination, Loges said he’d be surprised if it doesn’t exist in Corvallis.

During the 2004-05 fiscal year, Corvallis received a total of 11 fair housing inquiries or complaints, according to the city.

How to avoid housing discrimination

In their study on housing discrimination, William Loges and Adrian Carpusor concluded that online apartment inquires do not protect people from prejudices.

The authors advise people to disclose as little about themselves as possible in their initial housing inquires, including their names. This can allow a relationship between the applicant and the landlord to build that will mitigate any discrimination that may have been the landlord’s first impulse.

Also, landlords interested in avoiding accusations of discrimination, including subconscious reactions to applicants’ names, can use an anonymous or automatic response system to initial inquiries.

Federal, state and city laws protect everyone’s right to fair housing. Locally, if people feel they are being discriminated against, they can contact the Community Alliance for Diversity at 738-6293 or the city’s Housing Division at 766-6944.

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon is based in Portland, but it fields Corvallis complaints and uses testers to determine whether proof or a pattern of discrimination exists.

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon can be reached at 800-424-3247. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is another resource, and can be contacted at 800-877-0246.

Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.