Voice of the Voters: Hale Co.

The Hale County town of Greensboro escaped the Civil War architecturally unscathed.

Now nearly 150 antebellum buildings are still standing -like Magnolia Grove Plantation.

In fact, Greensboro’s entire downtown district is on the National Register of Historic Places.

But now many of those storefronts sit empty, and reminders of these tough times keep popping up all over town.
“It’s hard to find work in Greensboro. There ain’t no work in Greensboro really. You have to commute. You have to commute. You have to leave here to get work,“ says resident Kelvin Taylor.
Hale County is named after Confederate Colonel Stephen F. Hale.

Although a few signs of grandeur and prosperity do still exist, this is now one of the poorest counties in the Black Belt.

In fact, most of the country is familiar with Hale County because it’s the setting of James Agee and Walker Evans’ book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,  the story of three Hale County sharecropper families struggling through the Great Depression.

Things might not be as bad now as they were then, but people are still hurting.

Today’s tightening economy crunches moms like Alicia Matthews, who’s had to pull her teenager daughters out of band and softball:  “They can’t do no after school activities because of the gas prices” {You just can't afford to pick them up?} Right, I can’t afford to get them back and forth because of the gas prices.“

Vera Royal’s grocery bill has shot up this year.

“$84 today and about $50 something a year ago,“ she says. 

“I do these peanuts here.“ And retiree Floyd Champion had to go to work selling produce out of his pickup truck.

“My sales are running anywhere from $200- 400 a day less. {A day less?} A day,“ says Champion.

Jeff Rudes is frustrated and skeptical of both candidates.

{"You want to hear some real solutions and answers?} That’s right. {Have you so far?} Absolutely not,“  says Rudes.

When it comes to identifying America’s biggest problems, Champion says national leaders are too tied to special interests. He worries they’re forgetting small town America.

“They bailing the wrong people out! Bail me out if you want to help the economy. {Does it make you angry?} Yeah, it does,“ says Champion, who has worked full time his whole life, yet still struggles to make ends meet.
Others point to personal attitudes:
“We have become fat, lazy and are taking all of our freedoms for granted,“ warns Rudes.

Plus a lack of individual responsibility:
“Jobs don’t come to you - you’ve got to go to them. If you want the job you’ve got to go get it. {You've got to be a go getter?} That’s right. If you don’t you’ll be hungry,“ says Taylor.

As far as if we’ll pull out of this economic downturn:
“This is America. We always have,“ says Champion.

Like many folks here, he’s confident there are brighter days ahead.