Memphis and the Paradox of Place: Globalization in the American South

4. Cotton Fields, Cargo Planes, & Biotechnology: Memphis and the Paradoxes of Development

Sometimes when that Delta sun comes beating down . Well I swear those rows of cotton shine like gold . Visions of plenty . Roll across my mind . Still my hands are empty . And the system’s going dry.— kate campbell, ‘‘Visions of Plenty’’ 4 cotton fields, cargo planes, & biotechnology Memphis and the Paradoxes of Development Geographic location is one characteristic of place fundamental to understanding the economic structure of Memphis and the city’s role as a major distribution node in the global economy. Memphis plays a prominent role, not only because of the city’s central east-west geographic location in the continental United States and its north-south location equidistant between Toronto, Canada , and Monterrey, Mexico, but also because of its two-hundred-year history of place-specific decisions, activities, and transformations. The city’s geographic location on the blu√s of the Mississippi River near the rich cottonproducing region of the Mississippi Delta and an abundance of hardwood forests and natural resources, along with a tradition of entrepreneurialism and a history of labor-intensive human productivity, supplied the means to drive economic development related to agricultural and industrial production . But a history of selective strategies to promote or invest in some features of place, including geographic location, and to diminish or underinvest in others, such as commitments to public education, has a√ected the city’s 84 Cotton Fields, Cargo Planes, and Biotechnology ⭈ 85 approach to economic development in the postindustrial era and its prospects for success as a ‘‘comeback city.’’∞ Local development initiatives for producing and marketing agricultural products, enhancing distribution infrastructure, recruiting industry, and promoting professional sports and entertainment have created mixed economic and social outcomes. Some strategies that focus on geographic location have enhanced the city’s comparative advantages in transportation and distribution and have generated wealth. But the consequences of those decisions, and others, especially those connected with ‘‘selling’’ Memphis by o√ering typically southern industrial recruitment incentives, marketing cheap land and natural resources, and maintaining a low-wage labor market, have generated and reproduced inequality. The use of public subsidies and tax abatements to recruit industry and finance downtown redevelopment projects also produces mixed results. Paradoxically, each new wave of development strategies tends to reproduce old patterns of inequality, generating wealth and power for a few and maintaining the structure of poverty and inequality for many. Patterns of poverty, lack of educational attainment, and limited access to economic opportunities have become enduring characteristics of place. In Memphis, nearly one-fourth of city residents live below the poverty level, a number almost double the U.S. average. When compared to other southern cities, the Memphis poverty rate of 23.5 percent is the same as Atlanta’s and greater than the New Orleans 20 percent rate documented before the diaspora set in motion by Hurricane Katrina.≤ In public education, the Memphis city schools report a high school graduation rate of 48.5 percent, one of the worst in the United States. Ranked fortieth in graduation rates among the fifty largest public school systems, the Memphis school system lags behind those of Nashville , Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta, and pre-Katrina New Orleans.≥ The city’s high level of poverty and low level of educational attainment are deeply rooted in the city and regional economic structure, as well as historic patterns of rural-urban migration and ties to agricultural and industrial development. These numbers conflict with the stated goals of present-day development e√orts to create a niche for Memphis in the globally competitive biotechnology industry and to attract ‘‘knowledge workers’’ to live and work in Memphis . Focusing on appeals to the ‘‘creative class,’’ the city now promotes its rich musical heritage, which includes the blues, rock, soul, and rap, and the Beale Street entertainment district in a revitalized downtown to attract tourists , as well as potential residents.∂ City business leaders and government 86 ⭈ Cotton Fields, Cargo Planes, and Biotechnology o≈cials raise expectations that Memphis will become a ‘‘world-class’’ city with references to enhancing the dynamics of distribution, promoting a revitalized downtown, building sports arenas, expanding the zoo, redeveloping the riverfront, and promoting the city’s future as an internationally recognized biomedical research industry. In terms of infrastructure, city leaders have always treated geographic location as the city’s greatest asset. For some time, they have agreed to invest in transportation and logistics. Historically, however, ambivalence about the value of place...