jour72312

July 28, 2012

kenyatta:

slavin:

Amidst a blanket of Republican red both Hale and Bamberg voted primarily Democratic in the 2000, 2004, and again in the 2008 presidential elections. Indeed, Hale and Bamberg belong to a belt of counties cutting through the deep south–Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina–that have voted over 50% Democratic in recent presidential elections. Why? A 100 million year old coastline.
—
Via Greenfield, this is pretty much the most extraordinary thing I’ve read in a long time. I don’t much care for news. But I love the stories about what how news gets made, how history operates. This is an amazing story.
How presidential elections are impacted by a 100 million year old coastline | Deep Sea News

This bit is fascinating:

Booker T. Washington wrote in his 1901 autobiography, Up from Slavery, “The term was first used to designate a part of the country which was distinguished by the color of the soil. The part of the country possessing this thick, dark, and naturally rich soil…”
“The part of the country possessing this thick, dark, and naturally rich soil was, of course, the part of the South where the slaves were most profitable, and consequently they were taken there in the largest numbers. Later and especially since the war, the term seems to be used wholly in a political sense—that is, to designate the counties where the black people outnumber the white.”

I’d never heard the term “black belt” (except karate) but this is still interesting and a great example of using a series of maps to understand a geographic and geologic phenomenon.

slavin:

Amidst a blanket of Republican red both Hale and Bamberg voted primarily Democratic in the 2000, 2004, and again in the 2008 presidential elections. Indeed, Hale and Bamberg belong to a belt of counties cutting through the deep south–Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina–that have voted over 50% Democratic in recent presidential elections. Why? A 100 million year old coastline.

—

Via Greenfield, this is pretty much the most extraordinary thing I’ve read in a long time. I don’t much care for news. But I love the stories about what how news gets made, how history operates. This is an amazing story.

How presidential elections are impacted by a 100 million year old coastline | Deep Sea News

This bit is fascinating:

Booker T. Washington wrote in his 1901 autobiography, Up from Slavery, “The term was first used to designate a part of the country which was distinguished by the color of the soil. The part of the country possessing this thick, dark, and naturally rich soil…”

“The part of the country possessing this thick, dark, and naturally rich soil was, of course, the part of the South where the slaves were most profitable, and consequently they were taken there in the largest numbers. Later and especially since the war, the term seems to be used wholly in a political sense—that is, to designate the counties where the black people outnumber the white.”

I’d never heard the term “black belt” (except karate) but this is still interesting and a great example of using a series of maps to understand a geographic and geologic phenomenon.

5:06pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZjZlBwQHwdcO

(Notes: 22)