Residents of Alabama's Black Belt hit hardest by high gas prices

***(Opinion) Throughout the United States, there are places so isolated and impoverished that residents are literally unable to access the basic economic and educational ladders of opportunity that so many others take for granted. The impoverished rural areas in Alabama's Black Belt region offer testament to a nation that appears to have forgotten vast swaths of its own people. In fact, some might say Alabama's Black Belt presents a case study of blatant economic injustice. Here is a story from "The Birmingham News" that illustrates just one, but obviously major symptom of that apparent truth.***
Cody Lyon
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Monday, March 31, 2008
TOM GORDON
Birmingham News staff writer

SELMA - Alabama's Black Belt has some of the nation's poorest counties, and a recent survey suggests many of its residents are suffering more from high gasoline prices than most people in the nation.

According to the latest Pain at the Pump Index by the Oil Price Information Service, residents of Wilcox County spend more of their money on fuel than their counterparts in any other county in the nation.

The median monthly income in Wilcox is $1,460.50, according to the index. Each month, Wilcox residents spend more than 13 percent of that monthly income on gasoline. And the price they pay at the pump is 12 cents higher than the national median of $3.17.
Link to Full Story at "The Birmingham News"