Martin Luther King Report: 2017’s States with the Most Racial Progress

With Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan. 16, 2017) around the corner and 46 percent of U.S. voters expecting Donald Trump’s presidential triumph to result in worse race relations, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2017's States with the Most Racial Progress.

To measure America’s progress in harmonizing racial groups, WalletHub’s analysts measured the gaps between blacks and whites in 16 key indicators of equality and integration for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data set ranges from “median annual income ” to “standardized test scores” to “voter turnout.”

This report examines the differences between only blacks and whites in light of the high-profile police-brutality incidents that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement and the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who played a prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement to end segregation and discrimination against blacks.
 

	Most Racially Integrated States			States with the Most Racial Progress
	1	Hawaii		1	Georgia
	2	Idaho		2	New Jersey
	3	Kentucky		3	Maryland
	4	Texas		4	Mississippi
	5	Delaware		5	Wyoming
	6	Nevada		6	New Mexico
	7	West Virginia		7	North Dakota
	8	Oklahoma		8	Texas
	9	Montana		9	North Carolina
	10	Tennessee		10	Louisiana

 
Key Stats

• The District of Columbia has the lowest gap in homeownership rates between whites and blacks, at 11 percent. Connecticut has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 8 percent.
   
• Hawaii has the lowest gap in median annual household incomes between whites and blacks, at 9 percent, and has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1979, with a change of 31 percent.
   
• Alaska has the lowest gap in labor-force participation rates between whites and blacks, at 1 percent. North Dakota has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 23 percent.
   
• Montana has the lowest gap in unemployment rates between whites and blacks, at 1 percent. North Dakota has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 13 percent.
   
• Hawaii has the lowest gap, almost none, in poverty rates between whites and blacks. Mississippi has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 24 percent.
   
• Hawaii has the lowest gap in business-ownership rates between whites and blacks, at 38 percent. Texas has made the most progress in closing this gap since 2002, with a change of 7 percent.
   
• Idaho has the lowest gap in the number of residents with at least a bachelor’s degree between whites and blacks, at 2 percent, and has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 8 percent.

To view the full report and your state’s or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-most-and-least-racial-progress/18428/

SOURCE: WalletHub