Mississippi Resources
Until about 1940, Blacks made up a majority of Mississippians. Their share of the population has since declined, but has in recent years begun to increase, due mainly to a younger Black age structure caused by a relatively high Black birthrate, although this has subsided somewhat in recent years. In Mississippi's public school system, the majority of students are Black. [4] Blacks currently predominate in the northwestern Yazoo Delta, the southwestern, and central parts of the state. Nearly 10,000 Native Americans (mostly Choctaw) live in the east central section of the state. The small Chinese population found in the Delta is descended from farm laborers brought there from California in the 1870s. The Chinese did not adjust well to the Mississippi plantation system, however, and most of them became small merchants. The coastal fishing industry has attracted Southeast Asian refugees. The white population of Mississippi is mostly of American ancestry. More than 98% are native-born, predominantly of Northern European descent. According to the 2000 census, the largest ancestries are American (14.2%), Irish (6.9%), English (6.1%), German (4.5%), and Italian people (1.42%). There is also to a lesser extent French population, however French Creoles are the largest demographic group in Hancock County on the Gulf Coast. The black, Choctaw (in Neshoba County), and Chinese segments of the population are also almost entirely native-born.
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