Chapter 1

Racial and Ethnic Tensions in American Communities: Poverty, Inequality, and Discrimination—Volume VII: The Mississippi Delta Report

Chapter 1

Equality of Economic Opportunity

RACE AND THE ECONOMY OF THE DELTA

Socioeconomic Conditions

The Lower Mississippi Delta region is an enormous area encompassing portions of seven states—Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee—beginning in southern Illinois and ending at the southeastern tip of Louisiana. The Delta is composed of 219 counties and is home to 8.3 million people.[1] A majority of the residents are black and their current socioeconomic condition, which has been the subject of numerous studies, can generally be characterized as one of limited economic resources; inadequate employment opportunities; insufficient decent, affordable housing; and poor quality public schools. The region’s unique history of slavery, with its debilitating legacies—the sharecropping system, Jim Crow laws, the concentration of wealth in the hands of a minority white population, the political disenfranchisement of blacks, and the nearly total social segregation of the races—has been well documented and is generally viewed as the most significant factor in the region’s present position as among the poorest, if not the poorest, section of the nation based on virtually every socioeconomic measurement.

Mississippi

In each of the 13 Mississippi counties selected by the Commission for review, blacks constitute the majority of the population, from a low of 53 percent in Yazoo County, to a high of 76 percent in Holmes County.

TABLE 1.1 Black Population for Selected Mississippi Counties
County	% black
Bolivar	63
Coahoma	65
Holmes	76
Humphreys	68
Issaquena	56
Leflore	61
Quitman	59
Sharkey	66
Sunflower	64
Tallahatchie	58
Tunica	75
Washington	58
Yazoo	53
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, County & City Data Book, 1994.

Each of these majority-black counties is marked by high unemployment and high poverty rates for all residents. For example, Tunica County, which has been called “America’s Ethiopia” by the Reverend Jesse Jackson,[2] has the highest percentage of families living below the poverty level, 50.5 percent, and the highest unemployment, 17 percent. And, with the exception of Humphreys and Yazoo, all selected counties are marked by double-digit unemployment rates and high family poverty rates, from 27.9 percent in Washington County, to Tunica’s 50.5 percent.

TABLE 1.2 Families below Poverty Level and Unemployed for Selected Mississippi Counties
County	% below poverty	% unemployed
Bolivar	35.4	4.3
Coahoma	36.6	13.8
Holmes	45.5	15.8
Humphreys	38.3	7.4
Issaquena	42.9	10.0
Leflore	31.5	11.4
Quitman	33.8	11.8
Sharkey	38.9	10.1
Sunflower	34.7	10.8
Tallahatchie	34.5	13.4
Tunica	50.5	17.0
Washington	27.9	12.4
Yazoo	31.8	9.4
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population, Social and Economic Characteristics, Mississippi, table 3, p. 7, and table 2, p. 4.

However bleak a picture is presented by these overall statistics, the profile for black residents is even worse. The percentage of black families with incomes below the poverty level runs from a low of 46.4 percent in Washington County to a high of 68 percent in Tunica County. White families’ poverty rates in the selected counties range from Holmes County’s 7.2 percent to Tallahatchie County’s 14.9 percent.

TABLE 1.3 Families below Poverty Level by Race for Selected Mississippi Counties
County	Black families	White families
Bolivar	53.4%	9.6%
Coahoma	58.5	8.2
Holmes	61.3	7.2
Humphreys	55.2	10.8
Issaquena	62.8	–
Leflore	51.5	8.9
Quitman	51.9	13.8
Sharkey	60.2	8.8
Sunflower	54.7	7.5
Tallahatchie	54.2	14.9
Tunica	68.0	12.2
Washington	46.4	7.8
Yazoo	54.2	11.2
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census Population, Social and Economic Characteristics, Mississippi, table 8, pp. 31–32, and table 9, pp. 34–36.

The racial disparity is similarly acute in the region’s unemployment rates: although the overall unemployment rate in the 13 counties is 12.1 percent, the rate for blacks averages 13.3 percent, while the white rate averages a mere 3.8 percent.

TABLE 1.4 Unemployment Rates by Race for Selected Mississippi Counties
County	Black	White
Bolivar	23.4%	3.9%
Coahoma	21.9	4.7
Holmes	21.9	3.7
Humphreys	10.5	2.5
Issaquena	15.3	–
Leflore	18.3	4.3
Quitman	20.5	3.3
Sharkey	16.0	2.9
Sunflower	16.7	3.5
Tallahatchie	20.0	6.6
Tunica	23.8	2.0
Washington	21.1	3.6
Yazoo	15.9	4.4
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population, Social and Economic Characteristics, Mississippi, table 8, p. 31, and table 9, p. 34.

Arkansas

Although blacks constitute a majority of the population in only one of the seven selected Arkansas counties, 57.4 percent in Chicot, they are a significant percentage of the population throughout the Arkansas Delta region.

TABLE 1.5 Black Population for Selected Arkansas Counties
County	% black
Arkansas	22.3
Ashley	28.0
Chicot	57.4
Desha	43.4
Drew	27.9
Jefferson*		44.0
Lincoln	37.1
* Includes the city of Pine Bluff. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population, Social and Economic Characteristics, Arkansas.

And while the overall percentage of families living below the poverty line is lower than the percentage in the Mississippi state portion of the Delta, Arkansas’ poverty rates are still in the double digits in all selected counties. Further, the high overall unemployment rates rival those found in the Mississippi Delta region.

TABLE 1.6 Families below Poverty Level and Unemployed for Selected Arkansas Counties
County	% families below poverty level	% unemployed
Arkansas	15.7	6.2
Ashley	17.4	8.5
Chicot	18.3	14.0
Desha	27.3	11.9
Drew	20.2	7.9
Jefferson	19.3	9.9
Lincoln	19.6	8.0
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population, Social and Economic Characteristics, Arkansas, table 3, p. 7, and table 2, p. 4.

Like Mississippi state, the Arkansas Delta’s poverty and unemployment rates are higher for its black population, with both averaging three to five times those for whites.

TABLE 1.7 Unemployment and Family Poverty Rates by Race for Selected Arkansas Counties
County	% black poverty		% white poverty	% black unemployed	% white unemployed
Arkansas	39.0		10.4	13.3	4.7
Ashley	39.5		10.4	15.9	6.4
Chicot	54.1		10.9	23.3	6.3
Desha	51.9		13.3	23.9	4.6
Drew	38.5		13.9	12.9	6.3
Jefferson*		38.3	8.2	17.3	5.7
Lincoln	48.2		11.0	14.6	6.1
* Includes the city of Pine Bluff. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population, Social and Economic Characteristics, Arkansas, table 8, p. 30, and table 9, p. 33.

Louisiana

The six selected Louisiana parishes include East Carroll Parish where, according to Time magazine, there was found “The Poorest Place in America”—the town of Lake Providence.[3] According to the 1990 census, the median annual income for two-thirds of the town, Block Numbering Area 9903, is $6,536, the lowest in the nation, whereas the official national poverty level for a family of four is $14,764.[4] In addition, a study found that in Lake Providence, 70.1 percent of children younger than 18 are living in poverty—the highest rate in the nation.[5] As for overall family poverty rates, the black rate is 75.7 percent, while the rate for white families is 15.2 percent.

TABLE 1.8 Black Population for Selected Louisiana Parishes
Parish	% black
East Carroll*	64.8
Madison	59.5
Morehouse	41.5
Ouachita**	31.0
Richland	36.5
West Carroll	16.7
* Includes Lake Providence. ** Includes Monroe. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, County & City Data Book, 1994, table B, p. 242.

TABLE 1.9 Unemployment and Family Poverty Rates by Race for Selected Louisiana Parishes
Parish	% black poverty		% white poverty	% black unemployed	% white unemployed
East Carroll		71.6	23.3	40.1	4.8
Madison		58.5	12.3	25.9	5.4