The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper of the University of North Carolina, used the recent Better South 2013 Briefing Book on the South as the foundation for an Oct. 16 story that looked at how the state could have high unemployment and poverty rates and more economic growth than many states.
“According to the think tank’s report, North Carolina is ranked sixth in unemployment and 17th in highest state tax burden. The report also listed North Carolina as 11th for economic growth and the fourth for the best state for business.
“Ferrel Guillory, UNC journalism professor and an expert in Southern politics, attributes the gap between the state’s roaring economy and unemployment increase to the change in the industries that drive the economy.
The story went on to quote Andy Brack, the Center’s president:
“Despite North Carolina’s high unemployment and a high state tax burden, Andy Brack, president of the Center for a Better South, said North Carolina still ranks better than other southern states including Alabama, South Carolina and Arkansas.
“’North Carolina has a lot of work to do to reduce unemployment,’ he said. ‘It’s doing pretty well in providing a good business climate.’”
The town of Yemassee, S.C., which is at the intersection of four different Crescent counties, is all about shrimp. It has a shrimp festival every year. And as you can see from this picture, it’s even sold in bait shops (although, we’ve got to admit, that from some angles, the sign appears to be pointing to the pool hall.)
Just around the corner from this commercial complex is the other big thing in Yemassee — the Amtrak station. While Yemassee touches on Beaufort, Colleton and Jasper counties, the station and buildings in the photo are in Hampton County, home to 21,090 people in 2010, about 4,000 fewer than a century earlier. More. Some 22.6 percent of Hampton County residents live below the poverty line. Hampton’s annual Watermelon Festival is the state’s longest, continually-running festival.
Excerpted from an Oct. 13, 2013, story in The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier by Robert Behre:
Charleston-based center tries to tackle problems of the Southern Crescent
It could be the legacy of slavery or the more recent struggles facing family farms or rural areas’ loss of political clout.
In all likelihood, it’s some combination of all three — and possibly other factors as well.
Andy Brack, a self-employed journalist and head of the nonprofit Center for a Better South, is trying to call attention to the unique challenges facing this area, which he refers to as the “Southern Crescent.”
Brack said he never thought much about what lies beyond South Carolina’s so-called “Corridor of Shame.” The corridor — a wide swath around Interstate 95 — took its name from a 2006 documentary about the state’s most impoverished and struggling public schools.
As he studied maps, however, Brack realized the Palmetto State is not unique and that the corridor extends hundreds of miles beyond its state lines.
And he began an effort to raise awareness about its existence, awareness that he hopes will lead to solutions.
“We have a moral imperative to do something to reduce high rates of poverty, unemployment, disease and other conditions in the crescent,” he said. “If we deal with these, that will bolster the South’s reputation, lead to more business and improve our entire region.”
Sagging Southern Numbers
The South has:
Roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population.
Eight of the nation’s 10 poorest states (Miss., La., Ky., Ga., Ala., Ark., S.C. and N.C.)
Seven of the nation’s 10 states with lowest graduation rates from public high school (Miss., S.C., La., Ga., Fla., Ala. and Ark. )
Seven of the nation’s 10 states with lowest median household income (Miss., Ark., Ala., Ky., Tenn., La. and S.C.)
Four of the nation’s 10 states with the highest crime rates (Tenn., S.C., La., and Fla.)
Four of the nation’s 10 states with the highest unemployment in August 2013 (Ga., N.C., Miss. and Tenn.)
Two of the nation’s 10 states with lowest 2012 voter participation (Ark. and Tenn.)
Between five and eight of the nation’s 10 states with the highest rates of diabetes (8), high blood pressure (7), obesity (6) and infant mortality (5).
Source: 2013 Briefing Book on the South, October 2013. (which defines the South as these 11 states: Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga. Ky., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn. and Va.)
Run-down motel, Allendale, S.C. Photo by Michael Kaynard.
Excerpted from an Oct. 13, 2013, story in The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier by Robert Behre:
Charleston-based center tries to tackle problems of the Southern Crescent
It could be the legacy of slavery or the more recent struggles facing family farms or rural areas’ loss of political clout.
In all likelihood, it’s some combination of all three — and possibly other factors as well.
Andy Brack, a self-employed journalist and head of the nonprofit Center for a Better South, is trying to call attention to the unique challenges facing this area, which he refers to as the “Southern Crescent.”
Brack said he never thought much about what lies beyond South Carolina’s so-called “Corridor of Shame.” The corridor — a wide swath around Interstate 95 — took its name from a 2006 documentary about the state’s most impoverished and struggling public schools.
As he studied maps, however, Brack realized the Palmetto State is not unique and that the corridor extends hundreds of miles beyond its state lines.
And he began an effort to raise awareness about its existence, awareness that he hopes will lead to solutions.
“We have a moral imperative to do something to reduce high rates of poverty, unemployment, disease and other conditions in the crescent,” he said. “If we deal with these, that will bolster the South’s reputation, lead to more business and improve our entire region.”
Sagging Southern Numbers
The South has:
Roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population.
Eight of the nation’s 10 poorest states (Miss., La., Ky., Ga., Ala., Ark., S.C. and N.C.)
Seven of the nation’s 10 states with lowest graduation rates from public high school (Miss., S.C., La., Ga., Fla., Ala. and Ark. )
Seven of the nation’s 10 states with lowest median household income (Miss., Ark., Ala., Ky., Tenn., La. and S.C.)
Four of the nation’s 10 states with the highest crime rates (Tenn., S.C., La., and Fla.)
Four of the nation’s 10 states with the highest unemployment in August 2013 (Ga., N.C., Miss. and Tenn.)
Two of the nation’s 10 states with lowest 2012 voter participation (Ark. and Tenn.)
Between five and eight of the nation’s 10 states with the highest rates of diabetes (8), high blood pressure (7), obesity (6) and infant mortality (5).
Source: 2013 Briefing Book on the South, October 2013. (which defines the South as these 11 states: Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga. Ky., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn. and Va.)
Overflowing trash bins like this pair at the southeastern tip of Emanuel County near where it joing Bullock and Candler counties seem more common in rural areas of the Southern Crescent where garbage pick-up is limited.
This photo was taken just north of the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Georgia Highway 121 in Emanuel County, which has almost 23,000 people and a poverty rate of 24.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census.
Photo taken Sept. 22, 2013, by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.
This old house in the Mouzon community of Williamsburg County, S.C., is a study of contrasts. On one hand, it’s falling down. But look more closely — somebody appears to have put in new footings to prop it up.
Retired editor Linda W. Brown of nearby Kingstree, S.C., notes that unless something is done soon, it will fall down. “There are more than a few of these in Williamsburg County,” she observed. “I’m wondering if it was moved to this property as there are no steps in sight.”
Just under 34,000 people live in Williamsburg County, which is about the number who lived there in 1900, according to Census figures. Population peaked in 1950 at 43,807, but has dropped slowly since then.
About two-thirds of county residents are black, with almost all of those remaining being white. Only 2 percent of those in the county are of Hispanic descent. Some 32.8 percent of residents live in poverty, according to the Census. Of the county’s 1,921 firms, 36.5 percent are black-owned — a percentage that is three times South Carolina’s average.
Orange dirt roads. Pine trees. Cotton fields. This photo evokes the writing of Georgia’s Erskine Caldwell. It was taken in Georgia’s cotton country just north of the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Georgia Highway 121 in Emanuel County.
According to the Cotton Council International 2013 Buyers’ Guide, Georgia farmers grew more than 15 percent of the nation’s cotton in 2011-12 by producing 2.465 million bales. The only state that grew more cotton was Texas, which produced 3.5 million of the nation’s 15.573 million bales in 2011-12.
Emanuel County,located north of Statesboro, Ga., has almost 23,000 people and a poverty rate of 24.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census.
Photo taken Sept. 23, 2013, by Michael Kaynard. All rights reserved.
You can click the image below to see a four-minute video from 2013 that the Southern Crescent, an impoverished area that stretches from Virginia through South Carolina and then swings over to the Mississippi Delta.
It highlights a dozen maps of the area — maps that tell quite a story.
Let us know what you think. (Video added 10/3/2013).
SOURCES
Here are the sources for the maps that appear in the October 2013 video for the Southern Crescent project:
POVERTY: Percentage of adults 18-64 living in poverty, ACS, five-year average, 2010, Census.
POPULATION, white: Total population, white, Census 2010.
POPULATION, black: Total population, Black or African American alone, Census 2010.
HOUSEHOLDS: Family households, female householders, no husband present, Census 2010.
HOUSEHOLD INCOME: Median household income, ACS 2010, 5 year estimate, Census.
LOW INCOME: Household income, less than $10,000, ACS 2006-2010, Census.
EDUCATION: Population 25 and over with less than a high school education, ACS 2006-10, Census.
UNEMPLOYMENT: Unemployment rates by county, August 2012 to July 2013 averages, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
ELECTION: 2012 presidential election results, by county. Article and map via Wikipedia.
HEART DISEASE: Death rate per 100,000 people, age 35+, all race, all gender, 2008-10, National Vital Statistics System, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control. Online: http://nccd.cdc.gov/DHDSPAtlas/viewer.aspx
DIABETES: Age-adjusted estimates of the percentage of adults with diagnosed diabetes, 2010. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Diabetes Surveillance System. Available online at: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DDTSTRS/default.aspx. Retrieved 9/18/2013.
OBESITY: Age-adjusted estimates of the percentage of adults who are obese, 2008 data, Centers for Disease Control. Map via MaxMasnick.com.
It was quiet on a recent Sunday morning outside this pool hall in Fairfax, S.C. Down the street, people filed into churches for morning services.
Fairfax, in rural Allendale County, lost about a third of its population by 2010, which it had 2,025 people compared to 3,206 people in 2000, according to Census figures in Wikipedia. Per capita income was $8,940. About 38 percent of the people in the town, which had about two times as many adult males as females, lived in poverty.
Rural Allendale County in South Carolina’s southwest corner as one of the Crescent’s highest poverty rates — more than 40 percent of people live below the federal poverty level. The median household income is about $23,000 a year — half of South Carolina’s average and well below the nation’s $50,000 average.
The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper of the University of North Carolina, used the recent Better South 2013 Briefing Book on the South as the foundation for an Oct. 16 story that looked at how the state could have high unemployment and poverty rates and more economic growth than many states.
