Olivia Paschal

Staff Reporter

Olivia is a staff reporter with Facing South whose work focuses on democracy, money in politics, the census, and agriculture. She previously worked at The Atlantic and was a Facing South intern in the summer of 2017. Her reporting has also appeared in Scalawag, Southerly, and Civil Eats, among other outlets. Olivia holds a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University.

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Articles by Olivia

Politics

Why there's no Democrat running against Sen. Tom Cotton in Arkansas

By Olivia Paschal

December 5, 2019 - The state's Democrats are in turmoil after their U.S. Senate candidate dropped out under murky circumstances immediately after the filing period closed. Some progressives believe it's a sign that the state party's infrastructure needs an overhaul. Meanwhile, an independent candidate is trying to fill the void.

Fixing the unfairness of prison gerrymandering

By Olivia Paschal

November 20, 2019 - In the U.S. census count set for next year, many states in the South will continue to count prisoners as residents of the district where the prison is located rather than in their home communities — a practice that distorts representative democracy. But efforts are underway in some states to change how prisoners are counted.

Little Rock teachers strike for local control of school district

By Olivia Paschal

November 15, 2019 - Hundreds of teachers and thousands of students left the classroom this week to protest the state Board of Education's refusal to return governance of the district from the state to a locally-elected school board. Critics of the state board say it's motivated by money, not students.

Politics

Election re-do in Georgia county shows voting challenges in rural communities

By Olivia Paschal

November 8, 2019 - Mildred Russell, an 89-year-old African-American woman, wasn't allowed to vote in a special election held earlier this year in Webster County, Georgia. It ended in a tie that her vote would have broken — so officials had to do the election over again this week.

An Appalachian hospital merger exposes tension over rural health care access

By Olivia Paschal

October 23, 2019 - Officials in Tennessee and Virginia allowed a hospital monopoly to form on the borders of their states, promising that any negative effects would be counteracted by state regulation. But is that realistic?

State preemption laws complicate Southern cities' affordable housing efforts

By Olivia Paschal

October 17, 2019 - At a recent affordable housing summit in North Carolina, local officials discussed how to prevent displacement and gentrification despite being hamstrung by conservative state governments.

Arkansas' Phillips County remembers the racial massacre America forgot

By Olivia Paschal

October 4, 2019 - The recent commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the bloody Elaine Massacre sought to correct the historical record and start hard conversations, while the community wrestles with the ongoing legacies of racial trauma and injustice.