Name:   copperline - Subject:   Arch Date:   4/21/2016 11:14:44 AM

I can think of a couple of good reasons why the South pays less taxes than it recieves in Federal tax dollars.... history, education levels and industrial development.       Here in Alabama, the government struggles to give juicy tax incentives to business/industry to locate here... but frequently fails to attract desireable businesses because we simply have an under-educated work force.     Low skilled workers = low pay jobs, and not too many of them.   

Poverty has been a historical fact in the South since before the Civil War when the economy was based on the presence of low cost slave labor.   After Emancipation, those slaves did not quickly and easily integrate & come to par with the white citizens who maintained dominance thru what we call "institutional racism"... the systematic discrimination against them that restricted their options.   In fact, the integration of our schools didn't even begin until 45 years ago, until that time there were 2 school systems.   The "black" school system was always an afterthought... underfunded & neglected.     This, and the other social influences left over from slavery, stimulated the chronic poverty.

But we focus far too much on Black folks when we talk about welfare.   Most welfare recipients are white.   Look it up.   

Here is a link to an article that details the differences between Giver & Taker states...   Alabama gets around $3 in Federal dollars for every $1 we send to Washington in taxes.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/which-states-are-givers-and-which-are-takers/361668/

Simply put, the South gets more federal dollars because we NEED them to operate our infrastructure... and left to our own without federal dollars, we would not be able to maintain our overall standard of living, necessary infrastructure, nor fund the educational system we need to continue to grow.   Without Fed dollars, we fall farther behind.   That said, these historic trends don't get expelled easily or quickly, and we will have to continue to cope with them for years to come.      My point is that we can't cope with them very well if we think in terms of "Black folks" causing the problem of poverty & crime. 

Our opinions that black folks contribute more to the problem than to the solution, that being black is somehow causing them to be more criminal,  content to be less educated & unwilling to work, more interested in being lazy & dependent on "government  handouts".... all of that is symptomatic of that Institutional Racism we inherited.  It's our (white folks) historic prejudice against them... and serves no good purpose.

In fact, it makes the problem worse because it continues that crazy notion that there is an "us" and a "them".