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| April 08, 2015 |
Time:
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Landgon Hall
Conner Bailey is a Professor of Rural Sociology, joining the Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology (College of Agriculture) in 1985. Over the nearly 30 years, Dr. Bailey has
been involved in research related to natural resources and the environment, often focused on the demographically-defined region of Alabama known as the Black Belt. The Black Belt is the poorest region of Alabama and one of the poorest regions in the entire
United States. The paradox of abundant natural wealth and persistent poverty can be explained by existing theories in sociology and economics but there are factors specific to Alabama and the South that often are overlooked. One of these is the high degree
of concentration in land ownership and the equally high degree of absentee ownership found in Alabama. Well over half of all timber land (accounting for over 70 percent of all land in the state) is absentee owned. Wealth produced on this land is drawn away
and our notoriously low property taxes generate a pittance for support of schools and infrastructure. The second factor often overlooked is that a high but hard to quantify amount of land and real property is tied up in what is known as “heir property,” property
owned by descendants of an original owner who did not write a will. This was common practice among the first African American landowners, with the land passing down to all heirs equally. After several generations, ownership becomes extraordinarily complicated.
The legal title to heir property is “clouded” because there may be many co-owners. Research has shown that property worth billions of dollars is in the form of heir property owned primarily by African American families. The ability to invest this wealth in
economically productive ventures is limited because the title is clouded so that the land has little or no collateral value.
Participants are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the event for donation to the Campus Food Pantry
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