Fun With Demographics

As I've mentioned before in the blog, moving from South Atlanta to the North Georgia Mountains has been a bit of a culture shock for me. You see, there's a big difference between the county of Clayton (where I used to live) and the city of Clayton (where I currently live). Clayton County's population is 63% African-American, while the city of Clayton's population is, get this, 0.79% African-American. If you do the math (and oh, I do the math), there are roughly 120 black people in the entire county of 15,000+. That's pretty crazy. But what would you expect from the town where the movie Deliverance was filmed? Yes, really. Now, there are both pros and cons to having these demographics. On the positive side, the large discrepancy in numbers between the races all but guarantees there will never be a race war... that's always good. On the negative side, the local high school football team is gosh awful and the KFC just shut down. That's not a joke, it really did. And it's not funny, I miss it so much.

I would imagine those 120 or so African-Americans must feel singled out, but sometimes I do too. My skin may be white (we're talking Cullen white), but Clayton County definitely rubbed off on me. I like basketball, soul food, Motown, Family Matters... all anyone up here ever talks about is hunting, fishing, camo, country music, and the frickin Georgia Bulldogs. I don't like any of those things. At all. So when you're in the minority (even if you're not one), little victories, like things that remind me of my hometown, mean a lot. Like passing a Cadillac that's blaring Kid Cudi instead of Lady Antebellum. Like seeing a kid at Walmart wearing a flat-brim MLB cap instead of a camo hat with a fishhook on the bill. Like seeing someone in a Tech hoodie instead of a Bulldog fleece. Of course, when small victories are a big deal, so are small defeats. I was at the store the other day and I really wanted a Reese's peanut butter cup. Now, I'm not huge on sweets, but I do like peanut butter mixed with milk chocolate. Not dark chocolate, not mint chocolate... milk chocolate. So what do I find in the basket labeled Reese's? This:

Appealing to 99.21% of the population

But what would you expect from the town where Deliverance was filmed?

*Disclaimer: I do like Clayton, GA. It's growing on me. The air is fresh, the people are nice, and I've yet to see anyone on their porch playing Dueling Banjos. Also, I'm pretty sure the Squidbillies live around here somewhere.