| Sumario: | This article focuses on the people of Black Belt region of Alabama and tries to undo the misconceptions regarding them. In Alabama one is proud to be a native or a resident of the Black Belt. The phrase carries no suggestion of disrepute. On the contrary, it is one of dignity and prestige. The mere fact that one is from the Black Belt gives him some degree of respectability, for Southerners are loyal to their traditions, and to be from the Black Belt of Alabama means that one is from the section of the state that is still the old south. Whatever the origin of "Black Belt," the name has lost its original significance and now represents neither the soil nor the large black population. Rather, it represents a civilization. It stands for an economy, a culture, and a philosophy of life. No exact geographical boundary can be ascribed to the belt. 90 per cent of Black Belt civilization is within that 50 mile belt that stretches from Columbus, Georgia, on the eastern state line towards Meridian on the west. It was in this territory that the state attained its highest development prior to the war between the States. Whatever is the opinion of the others regarding Black Belt but the people of Black Belt knows how to make an art of life and is splendidly indifferent to the opinion of outsiders.
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