Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The other day, I heard a pundit call New Mexico “purple,” as in a balanced mix of “blue” Democrats and “red” Republicans. If that’s the case, we must have some closeted Republicans holding office, because these days the Democrats control the political landscape.
Republicans, however, aren’t that far removed from power. Not only do they control some conservative areas around New Mexico, it was only four years ago when a Republican was governor, so maybe a little purple is part of the equation after all.
The fact is, New Mexico is a unique state regardless of political persuasion. We’re one of only six minority-majority states, which doesn’t make us unique but does make us special. What is unique is that, every once in a while, we’re misunderstood to be foreigners to geographically challenged Americans, which leads us to explain that, yes indeed, we are a state, and north of the border at that.
That doesn’t make us an inferior state, it just shows how ignorant some of our fellow Americans can be.
Truth be told, we are behind most other states on a number of fronts. Public education in New Mexico is at or near the bottom in state comparisons. Poverty here is a lot higher than most of the rest of the country. And while our latest unemployment rate was 4.4% for August (as opposed to 3.7% nationally) and on a downward trend for months now, that still places us among about 15 other states with jobless rates at or over 4%.
But just because we’re poorer, less educated and underemployed doesn’t mean we’re a lousy state to live in.
As a minority-majority state — non-Hispanic whites make up 35.9% while Hispanics make up 50.1% and Native Americans 11.2% — we have learned to get along despite our differences. We even celebrate our differences in our state flag, with the Zia symbol signifying “perfect friendship among united cultures.”
If you ask me, our racial and cultural differences actually make us stronger. Seems we’ve learned how to get along by accepting and even embracing our differences.
Maybe this live-and-let-live approach can also be attributed to the fact that we’ve got more elbow room out here. The U.S. Census records an average of 17.5 persons per square mile in New Mexico — a far cry from the 93.8 per square mile packed into the geographical confines of our nation as a whole.
Plus, we’ve got some incredible features, both natural and manmade, that justifies the slogan “Land of Enchantment.” We’ve got high-profile places like Santa Fe, which has been compared to Venus, Italy, for its one-of-a-kind features, and Taos, where the majesty of the surrounding mountains stack up beautifully against any other Rocky Mountains enclave.
And don’t forget Roswell, which attracts more UFO-related attention than any other place in America.
Plus, we’ve got a spaceport hovering over a “Space Trail” that stretches across the state; high-tech laboratories that keep us on the cutting edge of scientific advancement; and Billy the Kid connecting us with a rugged and romanticized past that has captured the world’s attention for well over a century.
The point is, whether Republican or Democrat, Libertarian or in the burgeoning “decline to state” crowd, New Mexico is still your state. No need to let our differences tear us apart. We’re better than that.
Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at: