Abandonment in Dixie

Book excerpt: The Black Belt region has been described as America's third world. Although this region has been defined historically by eminent scholars such as W.E.B Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Arthur Raper, a new twenty-first-century definition is needed to address current conditions within the region. Womack specifically focuses on the rural African-American population as it explores the history and experiences of this group. This group remains ravaged by poverty in the twenty-first century and continues a legacy for many that began with the importation of enslaved Africans into the region many centuries ago. Womack addresses the interdependence of political ideology, history, culture, public policy, and present-day social, political, and economic conditions that influence and encompass the Black Belt experience. A fascinating look into the political history of the region and the creation of a distinct Black Belt political culture, Veronica Womack focuses on the development of both nonviolent and Black nationalistic political ideologies, the rise of African-American elected officials, as well as the influence of political conservatism and the Republican Party to explain the creation of a distinct rural sociopolitical experience. -- from back cover.