Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 February 23

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February 23

Blue arc in the US south

Looking at the map of the last US presidential election, I noticed something rather strange in the south. Although the Dixie states are mostly Republican red, there's a long, almost contiguous arc of blue stretching from somewhere in east Mississippi (Chickasaw County, Mississippi, I think) across Alabama and Georgia and then up through the Carolinas. As far as I can tell, this doesn't correspond to any obvious geographic feature. A quick skim of the articles suggests that many of these are minority-majority counties, but what was it that arranged the demographics that way in the first place? Why this long string of counties? Smurrayinchester 14:37, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

Much of that does stem from those areas being a minority-majority as you said. If you look at that map, you'll see it goes through Birmingham, AL, Atlanta, GA, Columbia, SC, all larger cities with a more urban population that tends to vote Democratic. RickinBaltimore (talk) 15:25, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

There may also be a geographical aspect: the are in question more or less follows the fall line, and that is where much of the urban growth has taken place in the south. It is inland from the hot and flood prone coastal plains, but below the more difficult hill county. Black Americans have subsequently migrated to those urban areas where the job prospects have been better than in the agricultural coastal plains or in the higher mountain valleys. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.131.178.47 (talk) 15:42, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

This article notes that it is almost entirely racial. It draws parallels between the map shown, and the racial breakdown of the counties in question: there's almost a 1-to-1 correspondance, which is true even in rural counties. --Jayron32 16:11, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

This line is called the Black Belt. Since white Southerners are very Republican and make up most of the non-Black population, this makes for a nice contrast where Obama can get enough votes to beat the guy who calls 47% of Americans parasites. The other Obama area in Mississippi is the Mississippi Delta and floodplain by the way, not to be confused with the Mississippi River Delta (which is in another state). Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:23, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, that was exactly the article that I was looking for! I figured that the blue patch along the Mississippi river was probably due to the fertility of the area (and therefore was the ghost of the plantations), but I didn't realize that there was also a geological explanation for this belt too. Smurrayinchester 08:29, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

You might be interested to know that half the Mississippi Delta was underwater in 1927. Since the land is remarkably flat, full of rivers, and made of silt left by floods this makes it unusually susceptible to floods. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:21, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

By comparison, notice those blue regions of the very Republican Texas, most of which are on the Mexico border, and have a high Hispanic population. (Despite currently having two major Hispanic candidates, the policies of the Republican Party, and Trump in particular, are not likely to win many Hispanic votes.) StuRat (talk) 06:14, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Except [1]. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:25, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Only 8% of the Nevada Republicans were Hispanic. That poll has problems. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 21:46, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Yea, he's bragging about getting votes from 44-45% of the 8-9% of Hispanics who are Republicans, as if it means every Hispanic loves him, when I count only about 4% for Trump (44% of 8%). If he is the nominee, come general election time, he will hear from the rest. StuRat (talk) 01:10, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

NPR had an article on this and linking it back to glacier formations depositing rich, cotton-growing soil. Glaciers → Soil → Cotton → Slavery → High % Black → Democrats. Article is here. EvergreenFir (talk) Please {{re}} 03:08, 25 February 2016 (UTC)