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Poverty and Place in the Context of the American South by Regina

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Poverty and Place in the Context of the American South by Regina Poverty and Place in the Context of the American South by Regina Smalls Baker Department of Sociology Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ David Brady, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Linda M. Burton, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Eduardo Bonilla-Silva ___________________________ Kenneth C. Land Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology in the Graduate School of Duke University 2015 ABSTRACT Poverty and Place in the Context of the American South by Regina Smalls Baker Department of Sociology Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ David Brady, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Linda M. Burton, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Eduardo Bonilla-Silva ___________________________ Kenneth C. Land An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology in the Graduate School of Duke University 2015 Copyright by Regina Smalls Baker 2015 Abstract In the United States, poverty has been historically higher and disproportionately concentrated in the American South. Despite this fact, much of the conventional poverty literature in the United States has focused on urban poverty in cities, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest. Relatively less American poverty research has focused on the enduring economic distress in the South, which Wimberley (2008:899) calls “a neglected regional crisis of historic and contemporary urgency.” Accordingly, this dissertation contributes to the inequality literature by focusing much needed attention on poverty in the South. Each empirical chapter focuses on a different aspect of poverty in the South. Chapter 2 examines why poverty is higher in the South relative to the Non-South. Chapter 3 focuses on poverty predictors within the South and whether there are differences in the sub-regions of the Deep South and Peripheral South. These two chapters compare the roles of family demography, economic structure, racial/ethnic composition and heterogeneity, and power resources in shaping poverty. Chapter 4 examines whether poverty in the South has been shaped by historical racial regimes. The Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) United States datasets (2000, 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2013) (derived from the U.S. Census Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement) provide all the individual-level data for this study. The LIS sample of 745,135 individuals is nested in rich economic, political, and racial iv state-level data compiled from multiple sources (e.g. U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Agriculture, University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, etc.). Analyses involve a combination of techniques including linear probability regression models to predict poverty and binary decomposition of poverty differences. Chapter 2 results suggest that power resources, followed by economic structure, are most important in explaining the higher poverty in the South. This underscores the salience of political and economic contexts in shaping poverty across place. Chapter 3 results indicate that individual-level economic factors are the largest predictors of poverty within the South, and even more so in the Deep South. Moreover, divergent results between the South, Deep South, and Peripheral South illustrate how the impact of poverty predictors can vary in different contexts. Chapter 4 results show significant bivariate associations between historical race regimes and poverty among Southern states, although regression models fail to yield significant effects. Conversely, historical race regimes do have a small, but significant effect in explaining the Black-White poverty gap. Results also suggest that employment and education are key to understanding poverty among Blacks and the Black-White poverty gap. Collectively, these chapters underscore why place is so important for understanding poverty and inequality. They also illustrate the salience of micro and macro characteristics of place for helping create, maintain, and reproduce systems of inequality across place. v Dedication To my late grandparents, Albert Lee and Rose B. Smalls. I know you are smiling down proudly from above. And to my grandmother, Bertha R. Smith, whose passion for learning, teaching, and life has greatly inspired me. vi Acknowledgements The road to getting my Ph.D. has been a long, unpredictable one, with some bumps, twists, and detours along the way. I deeply appreciate everyone, near and far, who helped me along this journey. From family and friends to faculty and staff, I give you a huge, heartfelt thank you for helping to make this one memorable ride. First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my beloved husband, Darryl, (whose name actually does mean “beloved”) for his unwavering support over the last six years. Darryl, your love, patience, advice, and humor have gotten me through some very long days and the toughest of times. Thank you for believing me when I did not even believe in me, and pushing me to exceed my own expectations. I could not have done this without you, and I very much look forward to our post-graduate school life. To my committee, Dave Brady, Linda Burton, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, and Ken Land, thank you for your flexibility, time, support, and guidance. I would like to give a special thanks to my co-chairs, Dave and Linda. Dave, you were instrumental in recruiting me to Duke, and since day one have proven your dependability and dedication as an advisor and mentor. You have been so generous with your time, advice, and lunch dates to talk shop (next time, lunch is on me). You have helped cultivate me into being a better scholar by sharing your knowledge, challenging me to be my best, and seeing and helping to foster strengths and potential in me that I did not even recognize. I cannot thank you enough! To Linda, thank you for always supporting me vii with open arms. You have graciously shared your experiences and wisdom from academia to everyday life. I deeply value your mentorship, and I can only hope that I am able to handle whatever life throws my way with as much grace as you do. Eduardo, thank you for your support and “keeping it real” since day one. Your class kept me sane during my tough first semester and reminded me why I wanted to pursue graduate studies in the first place. Ken, thank you for sharing your quantitative expertise, and even switching up your running schedule to accommodate me! Thank you, Gregory and Patricia Smalls, for being such loving, dedicated parents, who have cheered me on and cheered me up when needed. You are shining examples of what dedication and hard work can achieve. To my sister, Shanda, thank you for “taking me in.” I really appreciate all the laughs, conversation, meals, and encouragement you gave while I lived with you in Durham. I also received ample love and support from numerous other family members. Several other colleagues and friends have also helped along the way, be it sharing their statistical genius (Ryan Finnigan, Andrew Fullerton, and Joscha Legewie), sharing knowledge and insights on the South (Joseph Ewoodzie, Marc Dixon, Angela Hattery, Sabrina Pendergrass, Zandria Robinson, Martin Ruef and, Earl Smith) or providing helpful advice and mentorship (Rebecca “Becki” Bach, Tyson Brown, and Robert “Bob” Hummer). And to the great support staff of Duke Sociology, whose viii support and assistance have been valuable—Jessica Ellington, Rebecca Mohr, Lisa Palmano, and Theresa Shouse—simply put, you ladies rock! I am also grateful for fellow graduate student colleagues over the years who kindly offered their advice, friendship, and support—Amie Bostic, Rebekah Burroway, Trenita Childers, Lane Destro, Joseph Ewoodzie, Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, Sancha Medwinter, Megan Reynolds, Lousie Seamster, Felicia Feng Tian, Patti Thomas, Stacy Torres, and Victor Ray. Special thanks to Sancha and Amie for being such awesome friends, serving as an intellectual sounding board, providing helpful feedback when needed, and sharing lots of laughs and long conversations that brightened many of my graduate school days! And to my long-time, dear friends—Kathy Evans, Gayle Fajardo, Abigail Farakesh, and Alexandra McAuliffe—thank you for your support from afar. My thanks also extend to my undergraduate advisors and mentors, Douglas Thompson, Fletcher Winston, and Thomas Glennon, who provided memorable learning moments that broadened my worldviews and helped spark my sociological imagination. I also acknowledge the generosity of the American Sociological Association Minority Fellowship Program, Ford Foundation, and Duke University Graduate School, who provided funding for me to complete this project. Lastly, I had the opportunity to present parts of this dissertation to various audiences whom provided valuable feedback and suggestions. These include the annual meetings of Southern Sociological Society (2013) and the American Sociological ix Association (2014), the Economic Sociology workshop at Duke University, the WZB Social Science Center-Berlin, Dartmouth College, Boston University, the University of Pennsylvania, Virginia Commonwealth, the University of Michigan, and the University of Texas. Thank you all. x Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................
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