High-minority areas: Small States 5 CD or less

Dave’s lets you see population by race.  Therefore, every voting district with less than 60% Whites is now colored based on which minority there are the most of.  I do not include the heavily minority Southwestern States (Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico), the heavily minority Mississippi, as there is no general trend other than Blacks along the Mississippi river, nor Hawaii; New Hampshire and Maine are also excluded because no voting district fits the requirements.  So, here we go.

GREEN=African-American

YELLOW=Hispanic

GRAY=Asian

BLUEISH=Native American

PERIWINKLE=Other

And…voila:

4 EVs: Rhode Island

In Rhode Island, there are many Hispanics (Puerto Ricans, mostly, I believe, along with some Dominicans).  Part of Woonsocket contains a sizeable Hispanic population, although it considers itself the most French city in America due to the number of French Canadians residing there.  Much of Pawtucket is also Hispanic.  In Providence, especially the West Side, there are large amounts of both Blacks and Hispanics.  Providence is actually a majority-minority city.  Hispanics represent a majority of the public school system in the city and completely outnumber the Blacks.  Further South, in Newport, there are small neighborhoods of both Blacks and Hispanics.  

Idaho:

There is not much of a trend here, with pockets of Native Americans and Hispanics in an otherwise overwhelmingly white state.

5 EVs:

Not too much to see here, but there are pockets of Black voters.  In the Panhandle/Rust Belt, not shown on the map, pockets of both Weirton and Wheeling have Black populations of a sizeable amount.  Further South, there are pockets in Fairmont, a city with a 23 year old mayor.  Portions of Charleston have Blacks as well, although the city is still very White.  The same goes for Huntington, home of Marshall University and the least healthy city in the US.  In the Coal Mining South, Beckley and the tiny towns of Alderson, Keystone (which is majority-Black), Gary, and Northfork also have large minority populations.  I will continue this later.

Nebraska:

Yeah, I know it’s a very White state, but there are a few minority parts.  In Knox and particularly Thurston counties, there are many, particularly Winnebago and Omaha tribe members.  Rural Dakota Co. has Hispanics (I have no clue why).  The town of Schuyler, which is only about 50% White, is nearly majority Hispanic (maybe at the local beef processing plant?).  Lexington is actually majority Hispanic, again for reasons unknown.  In the larger towns/cities, Grand Island has some Hispanic neighborhoods and also has a meat-packing plant, which I’m assuming is related to the minority populations in both Grand Island and Schuyler.  Finally, in Omaha, the Northeast is highly Black, while the Southeast is highly Hispanic, again near a meat processing plant.

Utah:

Utah is also a very White state, like Idaho.  However, there are large Native American populations in the East, in Uintah and San Juan Counties.  Hispanics do exist as well, although not in the South, as I personally would have expected.  Ogden is one of those cities that has some; the other is Salt Lake City.  

6 EVs:

Arkansas:

Arkansas is generally though of as one of the White Southern states, along with West Virginia, to some extent, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.  These states have no African-Americans in the U.S. House.  Neither does Tennessee, but that is not for lack of VRA trying.  However, Arkansas has a larger Black population, and a Black-majority district would be possible through extreme gerrymandering.  Arkansas’ minority population would be on the right side of a triangle cut down the middle from northeast to southwest.  I will go by CD.

CD 1 (Marion Berry for now, hopefully a Democrat after)

Newport, childhood home of Gov. Mike Beebe, has a large Black population, as do parts of nearby Jonesboro, home of Arkansas State. Further East, much of Blytheville, which according to Wikipedia is a steel town (did not know that) is majority Black.  The rural areas along the Mississippi in Crittenden, St. Francis, Lee, and Phillips Counties are highly Black.  The only real towns in these areas are West Memphis, Forrest City, home of singer (not Rep.) Al Green, and West Helena.  Further inland, tiny Marked Tree, extremely poor Cotton Plant and somewhat larger Brinkley have high Black populations as well.

CD 2 (Most likely Tim Griffin, sadly, currently Vic Snyder)

Tiny Danville, Northwest of Little Rock, is near-majority Hispanic.  Neighborhoods of North Little Rock are part Black, as is much of state capital and liberal haven (as if that’s saying much in Arkansas) Little Rock, a majority-minority city.  

CD 3 (Some Wingnut, currently future AR Sen. John Boozman)

Actually, the only minority areas in this district are Hispanic.  These include the towns of Green Forest and Little Flock and the cities of Rogers, home of the first Wal-Mart, and Springdale, home to a chicken processing plant.  The Northern half of Ft. Smith is very Hispanic, with some Blacks as well.  

CD 4 (Mike Ross-“D”)

This district has the highest minority population.  From West to East:

DeQueen: A small town, it is very Hispanic

SW Little Rock Co.: Large Native American population, borders Oklahoma (probably Cherokee?)

Ashdown, Mineral Springs, birthplace of MLB star Willie Davis, Lewisville, Stamps, childhood home of Maya Angelou, much of Texarkana, and Hope, home of both Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee, along with Rep. and Blue Dog Chair Mike Ross: high Black populations

Moving further East, the lower echelon of counties, more or less those within two counties of the Louisiana border, have high Black populations.  Towns here include industrial Magnolia, Camden, home of Fmr Sen. David Pryor, and oil town El Dorado, home of MLB player Lou Brock.

In the Southeastern portion of Arkansas, Pine Bluff is a heavily Black city.  Containing historically Black college AR-Pine Bluff, there’s no wonder why the city is nearly 2/3 Black.  Warren and Monticello are other small towns.  There are some Hispanic pockets in this area as well.

Kansas:

Kansas is more diverse but less liberal than Nebraska.  The Southwest has large Hispanic populations.  Small somewhat Hispanic towns in this area include Syracuse, Deerfield (majority),and Ulysses.  Large towns/small cities with high populations in this area are Liberal, with a huge beef plant, Garden City, and Dodge City, a former Wild West town. Nicodemus, a tiny town in the Northwest, was founded by Blacks and the reconstruction era and remains heavily Black.

Topeka (Google), further East, has many Hispanics and Blacks, although it is majority White. The same goes for the larger Wichita.   Fort Riley has many Blacks, due to their overrepresentation relative to population in the Armed Forces (at least I think they’re overrepresented).  Brown and Jackson counties have many Native Americans, as does, for some reason, a tiny part of Lawrence.  In Kansas City, the Southeast is Hispanic and the North is Black, leading to a majority-minority city.  

7EVs:

Connecticut:

Connecticut is similar to Rhode Island, but with a larger Black population.  However, near Rhode Island it is basically all white, with only a somewhat large Hispanic community in New London.  The Black community is about as large as the Hispanic one, but none of the voting districts have a Black plurality while being under 60% White, so it appears there are none.  Such is the problem with simple color-coding like this, but it gets the general point across of where there are and are not Whites.  

Further West, we get to Hartford and the surrounding area.  Hartford has very large minority populations, including a huge number of Puerto Ricans and Blacks.  It is only 18% White.  Hartford also has extreme poverty, in contrast to the rest of the state, which is considered the richest in the nation.  Blacks are concentrated in the Northern half of the city and inner suburbs, while Hispanics are in the Southern half.  Speaking of these inner, suburbs, here they are:

Bloomfield: Majority Black, home of NFL star Dwight Freeney.  It appears to me to be middle-class Black, a relatively rare phenomenon for an entire town (list other towns like this in the comments if you know of them).  

Windsor: Majority White, but many Blacks.  The median Black income exceeds the median White income.

E. Hartford: Also majority White, mainly lower middle class.

W. Hartford: A few Hispanic neighborhoods on the Hartford border.

Near Hartford, we encounter New Britain, which is very Hispanic in many parts of the city, and the home of the invention of dribbling in basketball.  

In New Haven County, Meriden has Hispanic neighborhoods as well.  Waterbury has some Black neighborhoods and many Hispanic ones.  In this city, 4 mayors since 1940 have been indicted while in office (this could be the Chicago of the Northeast).  New Haven actually has more Blacks than Hispanics, although there are many of each.  It is the birthplace of Bush 43 and the home of Yale.  Suburb West Haven is mostly White, but with some Black and Hispanic areas.  

Fairfield County, near New York, has some minority areas as well, although more rural Litchfield does not.  Danbury is very White for a Connecticut city, but has a few Hispanic areas.  A small part of Stratford is majority Black, and Bridgeport is nearly all minority, split between the two major minorities.  Central Norwalk is the same as Bridgeport, as is Coastal Stamford.  

Iowa:



In 2007 and 2008, we heard about how Iowa was nearly all White.  How true is this? I’d say it’s nearly true, but Iowa isn’t the 1950’s Alabama Democratic Party.  Parts of Sioux City, on the Western border, have many Hispanics.  Am I correct in assuming that there is a meat plant in the city?  It seems to be the trend for Hispanics on the Great Plains.  It’s true for much smaller Storm Lake, in Central Iowa.  

Central Des Moines is like many other cities in that it has Black and Hispanic areas, despite it being in Iowa.  However, it’s still 3/4 White.  Tama Co. contains some Native American voting districts.  Northeast Waterloo has a large Black population, due to their being recruited from Mississippi to work in the early 1900’s.  What Black man or woman wouldn’t want to leave early 1900’s Mississippi?

Tiny Conesville is majority Hispanic for reasons I cannot understand.  Nearby West Liberty has a meat plant, and many Hispanics as a result.  

Finally, there is one Asian voting district in University Heights, near the U. of Iowa, and one precinct of Davenport is majority Black.  That’s it for Iowa.

Oklahoma:

Oklahoma is unique because it’s the only state with large Native American, Hispanic, and Black populations.  

Hispanic Areas:

Guymon Area including Texhoma: Panhandle area, is home to pork processing plant

Clinton: birthplace of Toby Keith..is there an animal plant here as well?

Altus and nearby Olustee: Altus is home to W. OK St. Univ and an AFB.

Oakland: Tiny S. OK town

Heavener: in E. OK, home of poultry plant.  

Black Areas:

Sayre: Small SW OK town

Granite: Home to prison

Lawton: Large Black population in a city

Tatums: Nearly all Black village

Watonga: Small town

El Reno: home to the Fried Onion Burger Festival

Langston: home to the only historically Black college in the state

Forest Park and Spencer: surrounded by OKC

In the Eastern Half, nearly every relatively large town has Black areas:

Ardmore, Boley (home of a prison), Wynona, Nowata, Muskogee, a town with a 21-year old mayor and home of Sen. Tom Coburn, AG Drew Edmondson, McAlester, home of former House Speaker Carl Albert, Atoka, Hugo, Idabel, and Fort Coffee

Native Areas:

Very scattered, particularly along AR Border.  Some towns include:

Tahlequah, the Cherokee capital, and Stilwell

Black/Hispanic:

Tulsa and Oklahoma City: the state’s two largest cities are its most diverse.  Both contain large amounts of both ethnicities.