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. 23 No. 1 - Spring 1995
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Magazine cover with photo of Charles Barkley shooting the basketball, text reads "Image of the South"

Image of the South

  • From the Editor

    2

  • Roundup

    3

  • Special Report: Banker's Delight

    How to win friends, influence people—and get richer—in North Carolina.

    8

  • Followup: Belly Up on the Mississippi

    By Jenny Labalme

    10

  • Followup: Belly Up on the Mississippi

    By Jean Haskell Speer

    11

  • Black Prism, White Lens

    Photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston's turn-of-the-century photographs show the white Victorian ideal of the Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes. By Edward D. C. Campbell Jr.

    12

  • A Mirror Wise-Cracked

    Filthy and free, the hillbilly image mirrors the best and the worst in us. By J. W. Williamson

    20

  • Revenge is Sweet

    When faced with daunting stereotypes, the east Tennessee writer restrains her dark and terrible instincts. By Jo Carson

    25

  • Plantation Politics?

    African-American Republicans bear little resemblance to their Reconstruction-era forebears. By Ron Nixon

    27

  • From Booker T. Washington to Clarence Thomas

    The voice of the pre-eminent black leader of his time resonates for black conservatives today. By Rickey Hill

    30

  • Whatever happened to Southern Democrats?

    They turned Republican. By D. Keith Miles

    35

  • A New Leaf

    As tobacco production declines across the United States, farmers explore alternatives. By Eric Bates

    40

  • Fiction: Unfortunate Son

    By Mark Vassallo

    47

  • Voices: Reaching for Heaven in the Public Schools

    By Mubarak S. Dahir

    53

  • Voices: Notes from a Feminist Mom

    By Sheridan Hill

    53

  • Junebug: Too Heavy to Heist

    By Junebug Jabbo Jones

    56

  • Blueprint: Lending a Helping Hand

    By the Center for Women's Economic Alternatives

    58

  • Review: Appalachia Revisited

    By John Alexander Williams

    60

  • Resources: Mountain Memoirs

    By Pat Arnow

    63

  • Still the South: Women in Politics

    By Mary Lee Kerr

    64
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