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In the Vastness of Montana, an Overwhelmingly White Population Enters a New Political

g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,209
edited October 2008 in A Moving Train
Montana, where just 0.4 percent of the 945,000 residents are black (6.4 percent are Native American), is one of the least racially diverse states in the country. But blacks are the most highly segregated minority in America, according to the Census Bureau. And like here, there are many neighborhoods across the country where whites' daily experience of blacks is limited to chance encounters and what they see on TV.

"I remember being in Billings as a little kid," says Teigen, 39, an Obama supporter running for the state House. "I was in a grocery store. I saw a black man and I said, 'Wow, that's a black man.' It occurred to me that that was the first black man I'd ever seen in Montana."

There is a certain kind of innocence to his words. Which is part of the complexity, as you travel around the ragged buttes of this region. With a black man inching closer to the White House, many folks here just might have to grapple with a situation they've never faced before.


"Never could I have anticipated . . . a black man being at the top of the ticket"

Interesting article on some in Montana who have never seen or associated with a black person and now have to deal with the possibility of a black person in the White House.

Peace
*We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


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Comments

  • PJ_SalukiPJ_Saluki Posts: 1,006
    That was a very well-written article by Wil Haygood. Enjoyable.
    "Almost all those politicians took money from Enron, and there they are holding hearings. That's like O.J. Simpson getting in the Rae Carruth jury pool." -- Charles Barkley
  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    http://news.yahoo.com/election/2008/dashboard

    polling mccain now
  • jimed14jimed14 Posts: 9,488
    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/mt/montana_mccain_vs_obama-614.html

    last couple polls have all been close ...

    One thing working against McCain here, Ron Paul is on the ballot in Montana ... (only other state he's on the ballot is Louisiana). Saw a poll yesterday that had him up near 4% of Montana's vote.

    I don't expect OBama to carry Montana, but it's intersting to think about, and a good read on that article.
    "You're one of the few Red Sox fans I don't mind." - Newch91

    "I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass." --- Pedro Martinez
  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,209
    Did anybody flip through the photo gallery #12 and the political sign....

    Taxpayers Voting for Obama, Are Like Chickens for Colonel Sanders

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • NoCode_inMTNoCode_inMT Posts: 551
    The towns that are written about in that article have about 1000 people combined... All are on the 'high line'(close to the Canadian border).

    I live in one of the 'big' cities in Montana, Bozeman. Our high school principal is a black man, and has been for over 10 years...
    It is true there are not that many blacks up here.
    But, Obama will more than likley carry the state. Because the state GOP told McCain to focus on 'other' battleground states. McCain has not visited MT once... Obama-7 times. McCain ran his first political ad just last night. During the Obama infomercial.

    We do have a democratic governor Brian Schwietzer, Jon Tester is a democrat(who is from a town on the 'high line'), and many of our state races are being lead by Dems...

    The tide is turning out here.

    Oh, the other reason there aren't many blacks up here---To Damn Cold!!! :D
    1998-6/20, 6/21
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    2006-7/2, 7/22, 7/23
    2008-4/15(EV solo)
    2009-9/21, 9/22, 9/28
    2011-9/3, 9/4
    2012-9/30
    2013-7/19, 11/30
  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,209
    NoCode_inMT wrote:
    Oh, the other reason there aren't many blacks up here---To Damn Cold!!! :D

    That's something I now miss is the cold now that from Dec-May I'm in Palm Beach Florida for work. I miss the damn cold after growing up in Boston Mass.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • decides2dreamdecides2dream Posts: 14,977
    so true, and yet it still amazes me to think how segregated and/or seperate differing parts of the country are. where i live and work, the variety of people from all over the globe, every shape, size, color, creed, sexual orientation...you name it....lives here, and i don't even give it a second thought. add on top of that the enormous population. so when i think of other ares sooo vastly different, it really isn't too surprising their apprehension of the 'unknown'.....just bizarre to think in this day and age, in this country....it is still possible. then again, i know many people get to 'know' other groups through tv/movies/magazines/internet....and that's both good and bad. better to have some exposure rather than none i guess, but i think it easily leads to misconceptions and stereotypes. it WILL be interesting to see how such areas do vote this election.


    good, thought provoking article. thanks for posting that. :)



    and this:

    "The first thing I tell a kid, a young person, who gets in trouble is to travel. Get out of Montana. Go see the country. Have other experiences."



    we ALL can benefit from that.
    Stay with me...
    Let's just breathe...


    I am myself like you somehow


  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,209
    decides2dream wrote:
    so true, and yet it still amazes me to think how segregated and/or seperate differing parts of the country are. where i live and work, the variety of people from all over the globe, every shape, size, color, creed, sexual orientation...you name it....lives here, and i don't even give it a second thought. add on top of that the enormous population. so when i think of other ares sooo vastly different, it really isn't too surprising their apprehension of the 'unknown'.....just bizarre to think in this day and age, in this country....it is still possible. then again, i know many people get to 'know' other groups through tv/movies/magazines/internet....and that's both good and bad. better to have some exposure rather than none i guess, but i think it easily leads to misconceptions and stereotypes. it WILL be interesting to see how such areas do vote this election.


    good, thought provoking article. thanks for posting that. :)



    and this:

    "The first thing I tell a kid, a young person, who gets in trouble is to travel. Get out of Montana. Go see the country. Have other experiences."



    we ALL can benefit from that.

    Flipping through the Washington Post this morning and the article caught my eye. It reminded me back in 1990 I was working up in Maine Casco Bay and I counted on my fingers how many black people I saw. I counted 7 yes,... 7 the 2 weeks one of the times I was up there and that's excluding me!

    I'm sure now that number has changed but man seeing black people were few and far between now that I think about the only reason I may have fit was the fancy RED SOX jacket and hat I wore all the time.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • jimed14jimed14 Posts: 9,488
    g under p wrote:
    Flipping through the Washington Post this morning and the article caught my eye. It reminded me back in 1990 I was working up in Maine Casco Bay and I counted on my fingers how many black people I saw. I counted 7 yes,... 7 the 2 weeks one of the times I was up there and that's excluding me!

    I'm sure now that number has changed but man seeing black people were few and far between now that I think about the only reason I may have fit was the fancy RED SOX jacket and hat I wore all the time.

    Peace

    I grew up in northern Massachusetts ... my graduating high school class was around 475 people ... I believe there was 2-3 that were black, maybe 10 or so of Asian descent (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian ... ) ...

    Then college, then working in Boston ... and now ... I live in San Francisco ... progressively seeing more and more diversity.

    I remember going back home the first Christmas after moving to California for a full 2 weeks, longest time I had to get back home and really spend some serious time back in the area I grew up ...

    I felt so uneasy being around, what I felt was, a complete "white wash" ... I mean, it seemed EVERYONE was white ... it's not that there was any racism, it was just that there was so little diversity ... it was just a little unsettling.
    "You're one of the few Red Sox fans I don't mind." - Newch91

    "I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass." --- Pedro Martinez
  • WaveCameCrashinWaveCameCrashin Posts: 2,929
    g under p wrote:
    Did anybody flip through the photo gallery #12 and the political sign....

    Taxpayers Voting for Obama, Are Like Chickens for Colonel Sanders

    Peace
    great frkn analogy
  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,209
    NoCode_inMT wrote:
    The towns that are written about in that article have about 1000 people combined... All are on the 'high line'(close to the Canadian border).

    I live in one of the 'big' cities in Montana, Bozeman. Our high school principal is a black man, and has been for over 10 years...
    It is true there are not that many blacks up here.
    But, Obama will more than likley carry the state. Because the state GOP told McCain to focus on 'other' battleground states. McCain has not visited MT once... Obama-7 times. McCain ran his first political ad just last night. During the Obama infomercial.

    We do have a democratic governor Brian Schwietzer, Jon Tester is a democrat(who is from a town on the 'high line'), and many of our state races are being lead by Dems...

    The tide is turning out here.

    Oh, the other reason there aren't many blacks up here---To Damn Cold!!! :D

    I find it hard to believe that McCain has not visited this beautiful state of Montana. I'd like to ride it on my bicycle one day. :)

    Here's an update on the status of Montana: Will McCain hold on in this state?

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


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