Welcome to the "C"

A few months back, I wrote about how poverty has just become the way things are in Memphis. I mentioned areas of the city that are gripped by poverty and not paid much attention, whether through government policy or just citizen awareness. Everyone knows poverty exists in our city and it’s a major problem, but perhaps people don’t think about the enormity and fluidity of it. Over the past month or so, I’ve been making maps of Shelby County. The same shape kept appearing. I asked the other map makers about it. They said it’s the “C” and let me tell you it’s not really where you want to be. 99 out of 100 social problems, teen pregnancy, crime, broken families, environmental pollution, high school drop out rates thru the roof, are all prevalent there. Fundamental to the “C” and tying all these problems together, is poverty.

For years now people with the financial resources have been leaving the city for the county. This has caused the two points of the “C” to expand. The south leg of the “C” has been moving into Hickory Hill and the area south of 385. The north leg of the “C” has absorbed much of Raleigh and is encroaching on Bartlett. (That’s right Bartlett, you’re next.) What’s interesting is that East Memphis and the Poplar Corridor has held its own against the onslaught of poverty. (A friend of mine likes to refer to the Poplar Corridor as the “underground railroad for white people into downtown.” I just about spit my water out my nose laughing when he said it.) This is another aspect to the “C”. African Americans have been so failed (screwed) by the system that they are the vast majority of residents of the “C”. Unless we address the poverty that affects so much of the Memphis, the “C” will continue to expand. How far will people continue to run?

Note: On this map is median, household incomes broken down especially for incomes under $45,000. The triangles on the map are bank locations. But that's soon to be the subject of another posting.