Making a (State)ment About Race.

• Position: LIFE IN AMERICA

With Martin Luther King Jr. Day being celebrated this month and 92% of blacks saying that whites benefit a great deal or a fair amount from advantages not available to blacks--versus 46% of whites who agree with that statement--the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an analysis of the Most Integrated States and the States with the Most Racial Progress, measuring the gaps between blacks and whites across 23 key indicators of equality and integration. The dataset ranges from median annual income to standardized-test scores to voter turnout.

The Most Racially Integrated States, starting at the top, are Hawaii, New Mexico, Kentucky, Arizona, Texas, Wyoming, West Virginia, Maryland, Nevada, and Delaware.

The States with the Most Racial Progress, beginning at No. 1, are Wyoming, Texas, Georgia, New Mexico, Maryland, California, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Jersey, and Alabama.

The statistics indicate that:

* The District of Columbia has the lowest gap in homeownership rates between whites and blacks, at 11.88%. Connecticut has made the most progress in closing this gap since 1970, with a change of 7.71 %.

* Hawaii has the lowest gap in median annual household incomes between whites and blacks, at 8.08%...