Opportunities for Geographical Research on the Role of the Negro in the Southern Economy

OPPORTUNITIES FOR GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH ON THE ROLE OF THE NEGRO IN THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY Irene J. Nelson* The geographical frame of reference has considerable utility in social planning. Through the ecological approach, the geographer tries to show how man interacts with his environment. This tradition persists in geography in spite of efforts to downgrade it. (1) With national attention focusing on environmental quality, geographers may be expected to revive this tradition. Central place studies with their emphasis on arrangement, movement, and networks have also provided a fruitful approach to planning. Berry (2) and others (3) have explored some of these avenues. There is no better example of the use of geography in planning than in retail site location. Kane has reviewed the successful work of Applebaum and Cohen in supermarket location analysis. (4) Unfortunately, planning for rural development has received scant attention from geographers. Yet many urban problems originate in the rural areas from which erstwhile city residents migrated. One reason for this scant application of geographic skill to rural planning is that planners for the agricultural sector are only dimly aware of the contribution that geographers can make. Three programs are discussed below to illustrate how the geographer did assist, or might have assisted, in planning in an essentially rural area—Tuskegee, Alabama. The three programs are: (1) the South East Alabama Self Help Association, (2) the Seasonally Employed Agricultural Workers Program, and (3) the Model Cities Program. Attention is focused on Macon County and Tuskegee, its largest town and county seat. Population for the county in 1970 was 24,000. about one-half of whom lived in Tuskegee. The rural nonfarm population outnumbered the rural farm population more than three to one. Some 80 percent of the population was black. The degree of political control by blacks is probably greater than that for blacks in any other county in the United States. (5) The county is beset with many problems, among which are: the underutilization of its labor supply, a weak educational system, and nonprofitable uses of its natural resources. The South East Alabama Self Help Association is the first case used to exemplify the role geographers may have played in the rural planning process. Farmers in Macon County, like their counterparts in the rest of the nation, are faced with the dilemma of increasing their scale of operation with greater capital input or being eliminated as effective *Dr. Nelson is a research social scientist with the U. S. Forest Service. This paper is a modified- version of one presented before she became associated with the U. S. Forest Service. The paper was accepted for publication in July 1971. 146Southeastern Geographer competitors in the agricultural sector. Some authorities believe that cooperatives may be a way out of this dilemma. (6) The role of cooperatives in agriculture is increasing. In 1966-67, over one-fourth of the value of net farm business transactions was derived from cooperatives. (7) At the same time there were 61 cooperatives in Alabama alone with net business transactions valued at some $92 million according to this same source. The Southeast Alabama Self Help Association was organized in 1968 and operated under a grant of one-half million dollars from the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). The major accomplishment of SEASHA has been the creation of a federal credit union and the ¡nidation of a feeder pig project. The feeder pig program started out with 24 farmers who were assisted by specialists in building farrowing houses and other required installations. In addition, the farmers were outfitted with sows and boars of specified pedigree. Regular services of a veterinarian and animal scientist were available to all the producers. The expenses for all these services were borne by the farmer directly or through a loan from the credit union of the cooperative. It is easy to visualize the kind of professional service a geographer may have rendered in the planning of a feeder pig project. First, the market needed to be identified, if indeed there was one. Once identified, its location, size, and seasonality had to be measured. There was then the question of how transportation facilities could be used to regulate product flow and reduce inventories...