ABSTRACT

Mississippi Delta region, which partly consists of the poorest counties in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana, was one of the poorest regions in the nation during the time of The People Left Behind, and it continues to be so even at the half-century mark. The original The People Left Behind report initially made policy recommendations regarding rural households, many of which seemed to have contributed to improvements among the rural poor and particularly poor Black households. For housing in particular, the National Advisory Commission (NAC) named both the lack of quality and racially equitable rural housing as major reasons for severe rural poverty. The NAC used the implications of these policies as a backdrop for their own research with a goal of eradicating rural poverty completely. Generally, a county's geographic context has significant implications for its economic opportunities. Added to the layer of race, too, was the economic vitality of the local communities and potential for economic growth.