Americans: which of the U.S. States do you consider the most backwards?

Question

I mean: a lack of progressive thinking, literacy rates, politics, discrimination, radical fundamentalists, etc.

Answer 1

I agree that the deep southern states fit all these categories. Conservative thinking, high illiteracy rates, discrimination, etc.

Mississippi, parts of Texas, and Alabama would be the ones I consider the most backward for these reasons.

Answer 2

Depends on peoples definition of things.. Lets take progressive thinking,
A study including randomly selected faculty from colleges and universities across California, and encompassed prestigious universities such as Stanford, Cal Tech, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and the California State University System showed an overwhelming majority (81%) felt that their department’s graduates develop a good or high level of critical thinking ability while in their program, only 20% said that their departments had a shared approach to critical thinking, and only 9% were able to clearly articulate how they would assess the extent to which a faculty member was or was not fostering critical thinking. The remaining respondents had a limited conception or no conception at all of how to do this.
So lets say, Californians are behind in progressive or critical thinking.... Even though I'm sure they would dispute this fact,The Foundation for Critical Thinking actually did this study.....
Illiteracy. (Let me be more PC) Poor literate health according to" Family Literacy and You" ,the Hispanic population is the largest minority in the United States and has the highest school dropout rate. More than two in five Hispanics living in America age 25 and older have not graduated from high school.By age four, children who live in poor families will have heard 32 million fewer words than children living in professional families.
State with the Highest Latino population.... California..
Discrimination.... hmm mm.. race,sexual,political......etc.. kinda broad.. Well , I'll say Lousianna. Only because Nagin wants a "Chocolate City"...
radical fundamentalists... farrakhan.... hmm mm he's retiring but the New Black Pathers are continuing his rally agianst whites, Jews, and Christians and they are located in Cleveland Ohio.... But is now ran by Muslims so ....the Highest percentage of Muslims is found in New York..

To answer your question,
California
California
Louisianna
New York

Answer 3

In most major surveys and studies concerning income, health, education, or housing value, Mississippi ranks near the bottom.

Answer 4

South- Mississippi
North- Michigan (also gets the coveted "Least Likely To Learn From Its Mistakes" award.)

Answer 5

Alabama

Answer 6

This is a dangerous question, but okay, I'll dive in. Alabama and Mississippi come to mind. My Dad was born and raised in Alabama, though he moved up north when he was 18. He used to tell me "Be careful about going to Alabama kid, you might need a passport to get out." I used to giggle at that until I traveled there to meet some of the relatives. He couldn't have been more right.

Answer 7

in order Florida, Alabama,Georgia,Louisiana, Texas,Tennessee,Kentucky,Mississippi,west Virgina,Maryland and Massachusetts
the best Pennsylvania,Ohio,north Carolina,Idaho,new Mexico, south Dakota north Dakota ,Nevada,Arizona and Oregon

Answer 8

Texas

Answer 9

West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas.....such like states.

Answer 10

California with New York as a close second. Most of the other states in the northeast would be tied for third. Totally a clueless lot. Progressive? Really!