Race In My Community

Race in Kitsap County Washington

Casey Moore

ETH125

Axia College of University of Phoenix

Robert Nobis

Submit Date??

I grew up in a small town. My graduating class consisted of 20 and I did not see a whole lot of diversity in the cities neighborhoods. Growing up in a community like this established many challenges about what the world had to offer. It was after graduation from high school I got married and moved with my husband to Groton Connecticut that I started to get a feel for what this nation has to offer ethically. After six years in Connecticut we moved to the diverse Kitsap County Washington which was named by Chief Kitsap from the Suquamish tribe (Weeks, 2001). Kitsap County is strategically situated along the Western shore of the Puget Sound and contains over 250 miles of saltwater shoreline (Weeks, 2001). This beautiful land was created by glacial activity thousands of years ago (Weeks, 2001). Kitsaps beautiful geographical setting is not all that it has to offer; but its unique diversity of people as well. The era of dominantly white communities is diminishing across the nation, and there is no place more diverse than Kitsap County Washington. When walking down the street you see people of different race. No one seems to really be bothered by the next person's appearance we are all in compliance that this world is spinning and we are all here to partake in some way. The main focus is community and the focus is on taking care of the atmosphere. These factors could arguably make Kitsap County the most desirable place to live in the states; or could it?

Kitsap community is made up mostly of the Democratic Party and at the same time is home of several United States Navy bases. Per the U.S. Census Bureau (2006), the total population of Kitsap County is 240,604; 121,259 of that being male and 119,345 female. In the early years Native Americans were the first known inhabitants of what would become Kitsap County (Weeks, 2001). The Suguamish were the areas principal tribe (Weeks, 2001). Today there are not many Native Americans around. Per the US Census Bureau (2006) there are only 2,758 Alaskan Natives and American Indians living in Kitsap County. Many of the people in our community look and do the same things we do. Being a resident of this community for only a short year I have noticed that the African American population is few and far between here in the Northwest. There are however many hard working Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who contribute to the workforce here. Today in Kitsap County the total