Black people love Obama. Film at 11.

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:15 pm

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/130194.html

The black dots represent cotton production in the 1860s—each dot is 2,000 bushels. The blue counties went for Obama in 2008.

One of the commenters on the excellent Strange Maps site, whence this map came, notes that the history of this slice of land goes back even further:

These areas are still used predominantly for agriculture, and they actually have a name: the “black belt,” which refers both to the region’s rich, loamy soils and to its demographics.

So, in addition to seeing this swoosh-shaped pattern in political maps and in maps of 1860 cotton production, you’ll also note it in soil maps and in geological maps of shorelines in the Cretaceous Period.

radbag · Post by **radbag** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:04 pm

tsifu

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:17 am

Actually, it's pretty interesting to note that the demographics of the big-cotton slave era aren't all that different in those places.

I figured that in a post-agrarian society, lots of poor black folks would have moved from rural areas to urban areas in search of jobs.

TheTodd · Post by **TheTodd** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:41 am

What is that huge asterick near Gulf Port?

DocZaius · Post by **DocZaius** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:16 am

^^ Not sure. The original site hosting the map doesn't say. There are several on the map, though.

TheTodd · Post by **TheTodd** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:17 pm

Yeah, there sure are. Didn't notice the others until you said that.

bluegrassg8r · Post by **bluegrassg8r** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:45 pm

Does that indicate a processing/ collection center? It seems to match that model with what I know of agrarian eco, fwiw.

wpfox16 · Post by **wpfox16** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 4:34 pm

Oh yeah... I love me some southern political history, and the term "black belt" comes up in just about every piece of literature you can fund on the subject.