... which, given that they top the list among states in the worst financial shape in the country, isn't too comforting. What I'm referring to here, though, is racial composition, exclusively. The following table* ranks each state by its racial disparities with the US on the whole:
The nation's capital isn't at all representative, nor is our putative future, California. Instead, the Midwest's most upstanding, exemplary state, where the level of moral rectitude is matched only by the transparent, civic-mindedness that so accurately describes its political scene, is the veritable "real America" of today. Hawaii and New Mexico are leaders in the realm of the exotic, yet only one is celebrated for being so, while the other is perhaps the state Americans know, think, and care about the least. Why are Maine and West Virginia near the bottom of the list? They're overwhelmingly white, of course, while the nation they belong to no longer is.
* The variation index values are calculated by taking the population of each state that is non-Hispanic white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American, and finding the absolute difference with the country as a whole in each of these five categories. For simplicity's sake, presume the US is 70% white, 15% Hispanic, 10% black, 3% Asian, and 2% Native American. The state of Eagleland is 55% white, 25% Hispanic, 5% black, and 15% Asian, and 0% Native American. So Eagleland's variance index value is 39 ([55-70]+[25-15]+[5-10]+[15-3]+[0-2]). Figures are calculated from 2009 US Census data.
State | Variance |
1. Illinois | 4.1 |
2. New Jersey | 10.3 |
3. New York | 13.4 |
4. Connecticut | 15.7 |
5. Florida | 17.2 |
6. Virginia | 17.9 |
7. Colorado | 20.7 |
8. North Carolina | 21.4 |
8. Delaware | 21.4 |
10. Rhode Island | 25.5 |
11. Arkansas | 26.2 |
12. Nevada | 27.1 |
13. Washington | 27.2 |
14. Massachusetts | 27.6 |
15. Michigan | 27.8 |
16. Oklahoma | 28.0 |
17. Kansas | 30.3 |
18. South Carolina | 30.7 |
19. Tennessee | 30.8 |
20. Pennsylvania | 31.4 |
21. Oregon | 31.5 |
22. Alaska | 32.8 |
23. Alabama | 33.2 |
24. Utah | 34.0 |
25. Missouri | 34.1 |
26. Georgia | 34.6 |
26. Ohio | 34.6 |
28. Maryland | 34.9 |
29. Indiana | 35.4 |
30. Nebraska | 37.1 |
31. Arizona | 37.2 |
32. Louisiana | 38.5 |
33. Wisconsin | 39.1 |
34. Idaho | 40.4 |
35. Minnesota | 40.5 |
36. Texas | 41.6 |
37. Kentucky | 44.4 |
38. New Hampshire | 45.5 |
39. Wyoming | 45.7 |
40. Mississippi | 48.6 |
41. Iowa | 49.6 |
42. Montana | 51.6 |
43. South Dakota | 56.2 |
44. West Virginia | 56.7 |
45. North Dakota | 57.6 |
46. California | 59.2 |
47. Maine | 59.9 |
48. Vermont | 60.0 |
49. New Mexico | 75.6 |
50. District of Columbia | 81.7 |
51. Hawaii | 91.1 |
The nation's capital isn't at all representative, nor is our putative future, California. Instead, the Midwest's most upstanding, exemplary state, where the level of moral rectitude is matched only by the transparent, civic-mindedness that so accurately describes its political scene, is the veritable "real America" of today. Hawaii and New Mexico are leaders in the realm of the exotic, yet only one is celebrated for being so, while the other is perhaps the state Americans know, think, and care about the least. Why are Maine and West Virginia near the bottom of the list? They're overwhelmingly white, of course, while the nation they belong to no longer is.
* The variation index values are calculated by taking the population of each state that is non-Hispanic white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American, and finding the absolute difference with the country as a whole in each of these five categories. For simplicity's sake, presume the US is 70% white, 15% Hispanic, 10% black, 3% Asian, and 2% Native American. The state of Eagleland is 55% white, 25% Hispanic, 5% black, and 15% Asian, and 0% Native American. So Eagleland's variance index value is 39 ([55-70]+[25-15]+[5-10]+[15-3]+[0-2]). Figures are calculated from 2009 US Census data.
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