Black Belt Region
|
|
The Black Belt Region in the United States refers to the social and demographic crescent of 623 southern counties that contain a higher than average percentages of African American residents. These counties are highly contiguous and form a belt-like pattern across parts of 11 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia). For historical reasons, these counties are largely characterized by rural decline, inadequate education programs and acute problems of poverty, poor health, substandard housing, and underemployment.
In 1965, Booker T. Washington wrote of the Black Belt: "The term was first used to designate a part of the country which was distinguished by the colour of the soil. The part of the country possessing this thick, dark, and naturally rich soil was, of course, the part of the South where the slaves were most profitable, and consequently they were taken there in the largest numbers. Later and especially since the war, the term seems to be used wholly in a political sense—that is, to designate the counties where the black people outnumber the white."
Historically, the Black Belt Region was the main producer of cotton in the mid-19th century. Many issues, including abolition of slavery, soil depletion and erosion, ended cotton as a major crop in the region, and peanuts and soybeans are now largely grown in its place.
References
- Wimberley, Ronald C. and Libby V. Morris. The Southern Black Belt: A National Perspective. Lexington: TVA Rural Studies and The University of Kentucky, 1997.
- Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery. Norton Critical Edition. William L. Andrews, ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
See Also
External Links
- Twenty Five Years in the Black Belt (http://docsouth.unc.edu/edwards/edwards.html) - Electronic Edition. First person history by William Edwards, b. 1869. (from Documenting the American South. Univ. of NC).
- Mohr, James and John Nicols, "Cotton Production in the American South: 1790-1860" interactive map from Mohr and Nicols, eds., Mapping History: The Darkwing Atlas Project (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Eatlas/), Department of History, University of Oregon.