In America, poverty is an urban thing. That isn't true, of course, but that's the narrative and we're sticking to it. Rural/urban America isn't actually a white/black thing. There's black rural poverty, too (and white urban). But in America, the story is urban=black.
Rural poverty is largely invisible from our media, giving the rural poor a bit of reason to maybe feel like they're a ignored. It doesn't matter how much government aid they actually get, their invisibility gives them reason to believe that they're somehow missing out on the secret welfare system that the urban blahs get.
There's some tiny bit of truth in that in many cities there's a bit more of a comprehensive social service system than one finds in rural areas, but it isn't really as if anyone's getting big checks sent to them.
