# 98.3% white **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2000, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339 "2000-09-07T05:57:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/1 "2000-09-07T05:57:47Z")
The [county](http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/datamap/cnty?19=101) I used to live in was 98.3% white. C’mon, who can top it? [http://www.census.gov](http://www.census.gov) (click on quick facts, then summary tape file 1A, then select checkbox P6 and “submit”) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/2 "2000-09-07T06:14:44Z")
My county is, as of 1996, 93.6% white. It’s also 13.4% Hispanic, which I find rather interesting. (Hispanic can be of any race.) I live in the rural-ish part of a major metropolitan area, though, so a very short drive finds me in an extremely diverse area. It’s not like living in, well, Iowa. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lazarus7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/67e7ee/32.png) [@Lazarus7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazarus7)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/3 "2000-09-07T06:18:58Z")
The house I live in is 100.0000% white. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/4 "2000-09-07T06:37:25Z")
My high school was 0.04% white. It’s close… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/5 "2000-09-07T08:16:46Z")
The county I currently live in is 95.75% white. However, the county next to where I go to school is 99.6% white. Of course, these are the backward idiots who hanged an elephant once (think _Deliverance_ country). They still have signs up on private property that indicate that if your skin color is not exactly white, then that property might not be a good place to hang out after sunset, if you know what I mean. Why are we looking this up anyway? ---
**Author:** ![jabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/db5fbb/32.png) [@jabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/6 "2000-09-07T08:55:57Z")
I can’t quite get the census site to work, but I figure my county on Franklin, VT must be right up there with the rest. I can honestly (but not proudly) say that I didnt talk to a non-white person until I was a freshman in HS. Pathetic, no? ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/7 "2000-09-07T09:02:51Z")
Hanged an _elephant_? ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/8 "2000-09-07T09:26:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Commander Fortune \* > \*\*Hanged an _elephant_? \*\* As embarassed as I am to admit to this, you can read about it right [here](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/pet/bigmary.html). Just remember, it wasn’t their fault! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![writefetus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9de053/32.png) [@writefetus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/writefetus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/9 "2000-09-07T13:23:30Z")
😕…(WTF?)…yo neuro’, the BVD’s I USED to live in USED to be 100% white! ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/10 "2000-09-07T13:40:21Z")
That elephant story was positively disgusting. How can people exist who are so incredibly stupid? Just how? ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/11 "2000-09-07T14:16:00Z")
My county is 78.2% white and 20.6% black. I guess that we are more diverse here. I also found out that 78.1% of the poeple in my county have finished highschool and 21.2% are college graduates. The south isn’t all bad. This is pretty neat! Thanks for the link neuroman. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/12 "2000-09-07T14:47:37Z")
Hinds County, MS looks to be about 52% Black. I’m in the Minority! WHOO-HOO! I’m a minority! Yeah, I know that’s not how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/13 "2000-09-07T15:11:46Z")
My home county (Fairfield, SC) is 41% honky. I’m a minority, too! ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/14 "2000-09-07T16:32:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by evilbeth \* > \*\* > Why are we looking this up anyway? \*\* Virginian Friend: Virginia is 40% black. Me: You’re full of shit and I’ll prove it in under 10 minutes. ::type type type:: (5 minutes 14 seconds later) Me: See, Virginia isn’t even close to 40% black! Me: (Hmm, I wonder how white that Iowan county I used to live in is. ::type type type:: Me: Damn, 98.3% white! Me: I wonder if anyone else lives (lived) in a less integrated county than that. ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/15 "2000-09-07T17:37:44Z")
My county of residence is 96.44% white, and the county where I work is 97.11% white. Then I thought, “Hmm, what county in my state (Michigan) is probably the whitest?” Keweenaw County (the northern most county in Michigan) is 99.24% white, and apparently has one Black person out of 1701. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/16 "2000-09-07T19:29:24Z")
Why didn’t they just use dynamite? 😕 2 sticks, 3 tops; would kill any elephant. Couldn’t navigate that census site–where’s the ethnic breakdown data? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/17 "2000-09-07T19:51:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Keweenaw County (the northern most county in Michigan) is 99.24% white, and apparently has one Black person out of 1701. That figure surprises me. I’d have expected a higher percentage of Ojibway (no blacks, of course). (Of course, the Ojibway may all be ghettoed in Baraga county.) ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/18 "2000-09-07T21:53:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*Why didn’t they just use dynamite? 😕 > 2 sticks, 3 tops; would kill any elephant. > Couldn’t navigate that census site–where’s the ethnic breakdown data? \*\* I saw this on TV on day. Apparently, some brainiac got the idea that using dynamite would be a good idea to get rid of a dead whale lying on the beach. I can’t remember the location, but it think it was in the US somewhere. So, off they go and load this whale up with explosives figuring that the left over bits would be just the right size for bird feed. A big crowd had gathered by this time to watch the event. Anyways, the whale blew up all right, but not in little chunks. Some were upwards of 40-50lbs! As the whale had been there for quite awhile and had started to rot the town was bombarded with rotting whale blubber! It had to be one of the funniest things that I had ever seen. Big blobs of whale landing all over the place and people running for their lives. HAHAHAHA!!! (god, I can barely breath writing this as I am laughing so hard remembering the looks on the people’s faces) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/19 "2000-09-08T00:01:45Z")
White people are now a minority in California…so can’t wait to apply for special programs 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Notorioustobias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3be4f8/32.png) [@Notorioustobias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notorioustobias)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339/20 "2000-09-08T00:02:42Z")
I remember the whale story being part of an old dave barry column, if memory serves correctly it was in oregon or somewhere else on the northwest coast. btw, my county doesn’t come too close to the 98.3% figure, but out of curiousity I checked out a place where I used to go, Hancock, ME. 99.1% white. They used to have a saying–“there was a black man in Maine once, but then he took a shower.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/98-3-white/32339.md?page=2)