ENDURING POVERTY IN ALABAMAS BLACK BELT

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THE CAUSES OF ENDURING POVERTY IN ALABAMAS
BLACK BELT     Andrew A. Zekeri Tuskegee
University Tuskegee, Alabama 36088      Presentat
ion to Regional Poverty Conference on In the
Shadows of Poverty Strengthening the Rural
Poverty Research Capacity of the South,
sponsored by Southern Rural Development Center,
Mississippi State University, Mississippi State,
TN, and Rural Policy Research Institutes Rural
Poverty Research Center, University of Missouri,
Columbia, MO. July 21-23, Memphis, TN.
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POVERTY IN ALABAMAS BLACK BELT
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1. High Concentration of Poverty Prone Groups

• African Americans
• Female-Headed Households
• Teenage Parents
• The elderly
• Children under 18
• Poorly educated residents

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High Concentration of blacks

• High concentration of black people encourages
  poor policies, poor education, inadequate
  infrastructure, and consequently, it discourages
  economic development
• Unofficial Policy of the 30 Rule

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High Concentration of blacks Racial Apprehension

• Many industrialists would not like to live in a
  predominantly black community. They feel that
  blacks can be militant and unpredictable.
• Race matters. Thus, the axiom is The blacker
  the county, the more likely business will bypass
  it. There is an industrial redlining in
  Alabamas Black Belt.

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2. Structural Characteristics of the Area

• Poor employment opportunities
• Business closings
• Poor public services and infrastructures
• Social cost of space
• Globalization-Dependency
• Local Politics that set people in opposition to
  one another

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High Concentration of Black People
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High Concentration of Black People
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High Concentration of Black People
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The Elderly
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The Neighborhood
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The Neighborhood
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Business Closings
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Buds Going out of Business
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Closed Gas Station
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• Newspaper and other offices burnt down

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GlobalizationDependency
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• Political Divisions Set People Apart

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Local Politics and Poor Neighborhood
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THE FUTURE OF ALABAMAS BLACK BELT

• It seems to me that efforts are needed at three
  levels
• 1. Federal and state efforts are needed.
• 2. At the local level, efforts are needed to
  build local capacity for collective action and
  self-help.
• Science and Education-there is a continuing need
  to provide assistance to those who act in the
  local society in response to local problems.

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Research Agenda for the 21st Century

• What is needed in research, from my viewpoint, is
  to focus on local deficits in the fundamental
  requirements for social well-being, namely jobs
  and income, services, equality, and community.
• Figuring out how to build local capacity in rural
  communities of the south is one of the central
  challenges of the new millennium for rural
  sociology.