Southern Exposure was an award-winning print journal published by the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, from 1973 until 2011. Southern Exposure earned a national reputation for its writing on a broad range of political and cultural issues in the South, with a special emphasis on investigative journalism and oral history.

On the 50th anniversary of Southern Exposure’s birth, Facing South and the Institute will be publishing a full digital archive of the journal over the course of the year. The initial installment of the archives available in March 2023 includes issues from the magazine’s launch in 1973 through 1981.

Vol. 19 No. 3 - Fall 1991
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Magazine cover with worker in hair net and gloves that reads "Fishy Business"

Fishy Business

  • Dateline: The South

    Compiled by Heidi Fisher

    2

  • Southern News Roundup

    Compiled by Laurie Udesky

    4

  • Through the Mill

    The looming insurance crisis threatens the pensions of North Carolina textile workers and four million other retirees. By Joe Drape.

    8

  • Down on the Farm

    White farmers in Mississippi have replaced cotton with catfish, but their roots remain firmly planted in slavery. By Richard Schweid.

    14

  • The Kill Line

    The catfish industry is crippling workers for life—and then firing many who are injured on the job. By Eric Bates.

    22

  • "Something as One"

    Sarah White talks about how she and her fellow workers at Delta Pride fought for better wages and working conditions. Interview by Eric Bates.

    30

  • Parting the Waters

    Catfish workers and community activists are organizing what could well become "the second civil rights movement." By Eric Bates.

    34

  • Fiction: Venom

    By Clyde Edgerton

    37

  • Southern Voices: Malicious Medicine

    By Denise Giardina

    43

  • "It Was a Thing to be There"

    Danny Barker, the elder statesman of New Orleans jazz, looks back on six decades of music—from Louis Armstrong to Wynton Marsalis. By Jason Berry.

    45

  • The Green Index

    Our state-by-state environmental ranking collects pollution to the health of workers and communities. By Bob Hall and Mary Lee Kerr.

    49

  • Toxic Race

    Plans to burn hazardous waste in one rural countyr have split the black community over jobs versus public health. By Mary Lee Kerr.

    59

  • Still the South: Stock Car Racing

    By Heidi Fisher

    64
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