I live in the black belt. Although it has rich soils, that’s about it. Only so many people can work in agriculture. There is no industry to speak of. A big part of the lack of development goes back to George Wallace. When they were putting in the Inter State system, Wallace made sure that I-85 stopped in Montgomery. It was supposed to go west through the black belt and hook up to the Inter States in Mississippi. He basically said the “N’s” ain’t getting any road. No good roads equals no investment.
I remember when it was built in my area circa 1980.
I've always looked at the black belt as an area that never fully recovered from the great depression, for some reason.