1. 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.

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

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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. High Concentration of Black People

8. High Concentration of Black People

9. High Concentration of Black People

10. The Elderly

11. The Neighborhood

12. The Neighborhood

18. Business Closings

20. Bud’s Going out of Business

23. Closed Gas Station

24. Newspaper and other offices burnt down

25. Globalization=Dependency

26. Political Divisions Set People Apart

27. Local Politics and Poor Neighborhood

28. 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.

29. 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.