Diversity in the High
Country… Does it Exist?
Have you noticed that the High Country is as racially diverse as a rodeo
in Texas? Seeing as when I asked if Boone was a hippie town I got such a
favorable response—and by favorable, I mean not favorable—I
decided to ask some more questions.
Recently, I found out that some person in our town had the belief that Boone
was 25 percent Native American. Now I’m no census bureau employee
and I’m not very good at counting, but I would venture to guess that
this is ridiculously incorrect. For arguments sake, there probably aren’t
many towns in America outside of the west which have that percentage of
Native Americans, but in Boone, our numbers are probably closer to 0 percent
than even 1 percent. Let’s check…
Here’s some numbers from the 2000 census to get the ball rolling…
Sure enough, we’re closer to one percent, but that’s not the
figure that jumps off the page. We are 93.98 percent white! I will go out
on a limb and say that this is detrimental to our residents, detrimental
to the youth that grow up in our town. But is it our fault? Does our town
seek out white people and give the cold shoulder to other races? Of course
not. In fact, our town has historically been welcoming to those of other
cultures, it’s just the fact that none of them have stayed here en
mass.
So what can be done? Anything? I constantly hear qualms about the university
that, apparently, seeks out the underrepresented populations of the school
(i.e. African-American, Indian, Hispanic, Native American) to take part
in photo shoots that go on the web and into freshman handbooks, granting
the impression that ASU is not all white. I sit in council meetings all
over our region and fail to see a minority figure in any chair. I take part
in organized sports and see the same. The exception to this fact is that
Boone has had a female mayor for the past 18 years and that women control
of good portion of the town.
Our region has a rich culture—helping to define Southern Appalachian
heritage. But is it enough to just build upon the primarily white heritage
or would we all benefit as a whole if other cultures, other races, other
religions took part in defining the future of the High Country? Of course
it would, but how do we change, how do we open our doors a little wider?
I want to know your thoughts on all of this. Using the new shoutmag.net,
I want to retrieve your opinions via email (shoutmag@gmail.com or sam@highcountrypress.com)
and place them in a forum online in order to open up a discussion on the
topic. Perhaps we can collectively start a diversity initiative and kick
around some ideas that will forever change the racial makeup of the Town
of Boone. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.
(That was cheesy and I apologize… you see, I need more diversity in
my life, too.)
Email us people—tell us what you think. It’s about time we become
interactive and proactive.