Reply #74: Vermont and Northern New England are about the same.

[ozone_man]

That includes upper New York, VT, NH, and Maine. It is cold and rural. Vermont is getting more diversity at a gradual rate. Certainly the bigger cities like Burlington are more diverse by comparison to the state and IBM as well with 6,500 employees. But, you would likely see more Indians and Asians then African American or Latinos at IBM, because of the Education that is emphasized in India and Asia. A lot of scientists that emigrate to U.S. are Indian and Asian.

As has been said, there is not that much heavy industry in Vermont. Some Hi Tech electronics, software, Ben & Jerry's, etc., some light manufacturing like Husky, injection molding companies, etc..

A lot of our ethnic diversity has come from refugees, including Cambodians, Bosnians, Vietnamese, Chinese, Somalians, etc.

What is more important are the views and policies that promote ethnic diversity in the state. The three nationally elected leaders that we have are Leahy, Jeffords, and Bernie Sanders. Does anyone think that Vermont would elect a socialist congressman like Sanders if they did not believe in civil rights or ethnic diversity? The two senators that we have voted against the Iraq war, two of only 12 nationally. I consider this war an act of racism and it is plain as day. We hold our senators accountable for their votes.