Poverty, Race and Community in Rural Places: The Empowerment Approach

Introduction: In rural communities of the Old South, poverty, race and community are closely intertwined. Indeed, it is hard to talk meaningfully about any of them without addressing them all simultaneously. Nonetheless, policies and programs for rural areas have operated at a very different plane, focusing on infrastructure, broad social institutions and business investments that—however critical to providing a base for overall well-being—leave untouched critical aspects of the underlying social fabric that inhibit the full value of these investments from being realized and appropriately shared. Specifically, the nexus between poverty and race and the difficulty racially divided communities have in achieving true community has been largely neglected by policy. However, feasible and appropriate methods are at hand to help address this missing element. This paper discusses one of these methods—the community empowerment approach.