Systemic Black American Poverty in Northwest Louisiana: The Two Parishes of Caddo and Bossier

Caddo Parish, Louisiana, is a region marked by high poverty rates among Black residents. In this parish, the Black American population surpasses the White population, and poverty among African Americans is more than double that of White residents. The poverty rate for Black Americans in Caddo Parish also exceeds both the state average for Louisiana and the national average. A similar trend is observed in neighboring Bossier Parish. These two parishes are interconnected through their most prominent cities, forming the Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Area. Within this metropolitan region, poverty levels among Black residents are currently higher than the national average. This book examines how systemic racism has become embedded in urban development, suburban sprawl, political systems, and other structural factors. It explores how these elements have perpetuated poverty within the Black community and hindered progress from the colonial era of Louisiana through the Civil War and into the present day in Caddo Parish.

Stephen Pinkney is a postdoctoral scholar at the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice. He earned his doctor of philosophy degree in urban planning and environmental at Texas Southern University. He received his master’s in education administration leadership at Lamar University and his bachelor’s in business/finance at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, Pinkney moved to Houston, Texas, in 2003.