WATCH: Video Warns Black People to Avoid Idaho

When I took a job in Idaho in late 2014, a friend from Washington, D.C., joked he would give me five dollars for every black person I met in my first month. He grew up in one of the most ethnically diverse places in the country, worked for many years in an off-camera role at ABC News, and then moved to a state with demographics similar to his own.

I Could've Made a Few Bucks

I should’ve taken him up on the offer, because he would’ve been surprised to hear how diverse Idaho was, but then he had never been here.

People from coastal enclaves view flyover country through the prism of stereotypes they’ve heard. I guess it makes them feel better about living in some of the cesspools they call home.

That's what they're missing. Credit Bill Colley.

I thought about their uninformed views when I watched a video about the worst places for black Americans to live. You can watch by clicking on this link. Idaho’s star turn is halfway through the piece.

It appears he bases his recommendations on percentages when it comes to the overall state population.

Here's What People Miss

Look, I realize there are some experiences I don’t share with some people from other ethnic backgrounds, but I’m reminded of a friend I worked with back in the late 1990s. He had grown up in Washington, D.C., and then did a combined 21 years in the Air Force and Navy. He switched to the latter after four years. He said it was because someone told him the Navy had better parties.

We were in the same after-work volleyball league, and years later, when he retired and went home to look after his mom, we would get together for a Nationals game when I was in D.C. We still text periodically. Furthermore, we’ve never run out of things to talk about.

Would he like Idaho? I imagine he would take to horseback riding instantly, and he loves the pictures I share of mountains and canyons.

People can adapt.