Demographics

April 19, 2017 - As legislation to limit residents' ability to collect damages in civil lawsuits against factory farms makes its way through the N.C. General Assembly, a new mapping project offers a clearer picture of who would be affected by the controversial proposal.

February 15, 2017 - Gerrymandering voting district lines is one way to rob political power from people of color, but another is not drawing any lines at all. A lawsuit filed last week is challenging such an at-large voting system in one Eastern North Carolina county — and history suggests the plaintiffs stand a good chance of winning.

February 3, 2017 - U.S. civil rights activists didn't only address the oppression of people of color at home — they also helped strike down the country's race-based immigrant quota system that privileged Europeans. The immigration law they helped enact is now being used to challenge President Trump's Muslim ban.

December 23, 2016 - In a year when it was hard to keep up with the onslaught of political news, Facing South helped to make sense of important developments and to share insights about the region. Catch up on our best reporting of 2016 with a roundup of our top stories of the year.  

November 11, 2016 - With their capture of the Kentucky House, Republicans now enjoy majorities in every state legislative chamber in the South.

November 7, 2016 - Besides being home to two big presidential battlegrounds, the South this year features some of the most closely-watched contests for governor, state courts and legislatures, as well as key ballot measures. Here's your guide to down-ballot elections that will shape the South.

November 6, 2016 - In the final two days of early voting, African American voters in North Carolina cast more than 120,000 ballots, closing the gap between 2016 and the record-high turnout in 2012.

November 4, 2016 - With just two days left of early voting, African-American early voting in the biggest battleground state of 2016 is down 25 percent from four years ago. Why is black early voting down, and what are groups doing to close the gap heading into Election Day?

November 4, 2016 - Growing in numbers and galvanized by Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, Latino voters are casting ballots in record numbers across the South this year.