Diversity in Eldersburg (and America)

Thought I would change up the posts a bit and focus on an issue that is near and dear to my heart. This issue is Diversity. In today’s Politically Correct Atmosphere, it is not discussed enough and when it is people typically focus on stereotypes.

This article entitled “The Face of Tomorrow” is provides a few good talking points.

“For all the platitudes about melting pots, mosaics, and rainbow coalitions, many regard the "browning" of America as a profoundly disturbing trend. Miscegenation is still regarded as culturally taboo on Main Street. As recently as 20 years ago, some states still had laws in place forbidding interracial marriage.”

As a member of an interracial/cultural marriage.. this really strikes home for me. It is amazing how that in today’s society, some people still focus on skin color. We have not experienced any real negative repercussions …. Though, once or twice when we paid a visit to a more culturally homogenous area (rural Pennsylvania) we were subject to a few stairs/comments. Thankfully, in our area and society, my experience has been that people comment more about the balding of one’s head then the color of their skin… and these comments are good natured …. I’ve found that losing one hair has not as dramatic as I feared it would be when I was younger… but that is a topic for a future post…

But back to the topic of this post… Though, I must admit that Eldersburg is not as diverse as I would like it to be, especially as my children grow and enter the school system. I wonder and hope that their backgrounds will not be a characteristic that separates them from their peers.

I don’t have any numbers on the breakdown of the local schools… perhaps someone else can track them down??

Hollywood appears to be embracing diversity, but are we as a culture? It seems to be the hot item in TV sitcoms and movies…

Results from Census 2000

Nearly 7 Million (2.4 percent) of Americans described themselves as multiracial in the 2000 Census.

Among Americans younger than 18, for example, 4.2 percent were multiracial, compared with 1.9 percent of adults.

Census officials claim that the number of interracial couples more than quadrupled between 1970 and 1995.

Among the 13 states where the Census Bureau has released detailed race information so far, multiracial populations range from less than 1 percent in Mississippi to 4.5 percent in Oklahoma.

Among big counties in those states, Fairfax and Prince William counties in Virginia were among the top 10 with their multiracial populations, about 4 percent.:

Thirty years ago, only one in every 100 children born in the United States was of mixed race. Today that number is one in 19. In states like California and Washington it's closer to one in 10 (Newsweek, May 8, 2000).

In 1997 Interface, a magazine which targets interracial couples conducted a poll, "Best & Worst Cities To Live," with its readers and found the top ten cities for interracial couples (ranked in order of preference):

1. Montclair, NJ

2. San Jose, CA

3. Denver, CO

4. San Diego, CA

5. Washington, DC

6. Seattle, WA

7. Minneapolis, MN

8. Madison, MN

9. Oakland, CA

10. Columbus, OH

***I concur with Washington DC being one of the best places to live for these couples. We moved from suburban Virginia and at least 40% of our friends were mixed couples of some type. It seems the for most in the younger generations, this is a non-issue…

Where do most people in Carroll and Howard Counties fall on this issue?