20 Most Tolerant States by The Daily Beast January 16, 2011 | 11:39pm
As the country commemorates Martin Luther King Day and reflects on Tucson, The Daily Beast crunches the numbers to rank the tolerances of every state across America. How did yours stack up? In the four-plus decades since Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, America has surely moved closer to a country where people are judged more by content of their character than the color of their skin—or their gender, religion or sexual orientation. In honor of today’s national holiday, and mindful of the debate fostered by the massacre in Tucson nine days ago, The Daily Beast sought to examine which states are the most tolerant, devising a thorough point system that measures each state’s residents based on their actions and opinions, as well the scope of state laws guaranteeing equal rights and protections, which reflects the broader political will.
Gallery: Ranking the Most Tolerant States
AP Photo (2); Getty Images (2)
Specifically, for each state we considered the number of hate crimes according to the FBI, the extent of hate-crime statutes, the number of complaints of discrimination filed through the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, the extent of fair-housing and fair-workplace laws, the percentage of residents that support same-sex marriage, the extent of legal rights for same-sex couples, and the percentage of residents that are accepting of various religions. Each state was given a score out of 100 points. Ties were broken based on hate-crime statistics—if the total points matched, the state with fewer hate crimes in the last year ranked higher. So how does your state fare on the tolerance scale? Click here. For the full methodology, read below.
Click Here to See the Full List METHODOLOGY - Hate crime incidents per 100,000 residents = Maximum of 20 points Points were assigned based on percentile. A state in the 90th percentile (with the least amount of hate crimes) was given 20 points. A state in the 80th percentile was given 18 points, etc. Statistics are according to FBI hate crime statistics for 2009, except for Hawaii, which did not report statistics to the FBI, but compiled its own report through the office of the state’s Attorney General. - Hate crime statutory scope = Maximum of 20 points Each state got the following number of points based on its hate law statues: -State requires data collection to state agency (+2 points)