THE CAUSES OF ENDURING POVERTY IN ALABAMA’S BLACK BELT*    Andrew A. Zekeri Tuskegee University Tuskegee, Alabama 36088  *Presentation 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 Institute’s Rural Poverty Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO. July 21-23, Memphis, TN.

POVERTY IN ALABAMA’S BLACK BELT Map by Birmingham News, May 12, 2002

1. High Concentration of “Poverty Prone” Groups African Americans Female-Headed Households Teenage Parents The elderly Children under 18 Poorly educated residents

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

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 Alabama’s Black Belt.

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

High Concentration of Black People

High Concentration of Black People

High Concentration of Black People

The Elderly

The Neighborhood

The Neighborhood

Business Closings

Bud’s Going out of Business

Closed Gas Station

Newspaper and other offices burnt down

Globalization=Dependency

Political Divisions Set People Apart

Local Politics and Poor Neighborhood

THE FUTURE OF ALABAMA’S 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.

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.