Rural diversity

The 2006 U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service studied rural populations across America.[4] This study displayed the increasing racial and ethnic diversity in rural America. This study displayed the increasing immigration and Hispanic population in non-metro areas across America. This study also revealed the poverty distribution in non-metro areas across races and ethnicities in 2006.

The 2018 study titled “What Unites and Divides Urban, Suburban, and Rural Communities”[5] researched by the Pew Research Center examines demographic trends across America, categorized as either suburban, urban, or rural. When regarding racial and ethnic rural diversity, this study reveals, through surveying, how rural counties are becoming more racially and ethnically diverse at a significantly slower pace than suburban and urban counties .

Though rural America is frequently associated with agriculture, not all rural economies depend on farming. Many rely on sectors like manufacturing, mining, and the oil and gas industry. Jobs in the service industry, education, healthcare, and construction also employ large sections of the rural workforce.[1]

In rural areas in the Southeast, West, and Southwest, there are significant populations of African-Americans, Hispanic people, and Native Americans. 54% of Native Americans live in rural areas, a much higher percentage of the population than for other racial and ethnic groups.[6] 14% of Black Americans live in rural areas, primarily in the Southeast and especially in the Black Belt states of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana. 12% of Hispanic population in the US lives in rural areas, and that number is projected to grow as Hispanic populations increase nationwide.[7] Although rural Hispanic populations have typically been concentrated in the Southwest and West, in the past 20 years Hispanic populations have grown throughout the Midwest and Great Plains.

Despite the portrayal of rural Americans as primarily able bodied, strong farmers, people in rural America have varying levels of physical ability. At 15.1%, the disability rate in rural America is higher than the country as a whole (11.7%).[8] Compounded with the issue of medical deserts that affect many rural communities, disabled people in rural areas are more likely to receive inadequate care than their peers in urban areas. A lack of public transportation in most rural areas creates an additional barrier for people with disabilities to be integrated into their communities.[9]

It is estimated that fifteen to twenty percent of LGBTQ+ people in the United States live in rural areas.[10] Rural areas also have about the same percentage of LGBTQ residents as do urban areas, though many are not open about their identity due to threat of discrimination and violence. They are more likely than their urban peers to be subject to discrimination and social exclusion.[10] Rural LGBTQ people are often overlooked by the larger LGBTQ community and by researchers, which both tend to be centered in and around cities. This results in a lack of resources for rural LGBTQ+ populations.

Well-known films about rural communities are often primarily white. The popular film, Brokeback Mountain, made in 2005 featuring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, portrays a rural America centered around a white community. This film shows a rural area that is mostly white and heteronormative. The main two characters, played by Ledger and Gyllenhaal have a secret love affair-unable to come out as gay to their community. Another film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri made in 2017, also features rural America. This film chronicles the murder investigation of a young woman. This film is highly regarded but has been accused of being a “shallow look at rural America, especially in regards to race.”[11] Film portrayals of rural communities often display a homogenous community, contributing to the common perception that rural diversity is non-existent.

The 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, is often regarded as a 21st-century portrait of the rural American experience and culture. J. D. Vance’s book is centered around the experience of a white boy growing up in rural poverty. This book is well-known as an all-encompassing representation of rural America despite not offering much information on other, more diverse, rural experiences.

The 1960s and 1970s sitcom, The Beverly Hillbillies, depicted a poor, white family from the Ozark Mountains that suddenly made a lot of money after finding oil on their land. The family then moved to Beverly Hills. This television show played into the classic rural stereotype of a poor, white, and ‘redneck’ family.

American folk music is often associated with rural areas, particularly Oklahoma, Appalachia, and the Southwest. Country music is also often affiliated with rural areas. Country music is more associated with the southern part of the United States than American Folk music is.

Poems about rural life are common, as pastoral poetry has been a common topic.[12] These poems often focus on and are associated with nature, but also focus on rural communities and the poets’ own experience within those communities. In the United States, The Affrilachian Poets are a group of Black poets from Appalachia that challenge traditional perceptions of a White Appalachia.[13] There are many rural Native American poets, including Tommy Pico,[14] Joy Harjo, and Layli Long Soldier.

Podcasts about rural life are all-encompassing. There are podcasts for many different topics, from health and education to business and politics.[15]