<p>Demographics plays a role. It helps to have a solid black middle class population in a state, a lot depends on immigration/migration patterns historically. I suspect those blacks doing well in the south were not about to leave and endure northern winters, I’m sure historians and sociologists have studied this. I wonder what would happen to figures if family income were factored into various states’ public intitutions’ figures. All sorts of fun can be had with statistics.</p>