History
April 1, 2021 -
Young people are among those whose access to the ballot would be limited under a restrictive new voting law passed in Georgia, a state that once led the nation in empowering the youth vote. Congress should act to lift these limits and shore up young people's eroding faith in democracy by passing the For the People Act.
March 26, 2021 -
Facing South recently spoke with Thomas Healy, author of "Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia." The book documents civil rights leader Floyd McKissick's pursuit of Black opportunity in the form of a Black-led model integrated community on a former slave plantation in Eastern North Carolina, and the lessons the quest and its failure holds for today.
March 24, 2021 -
U.S. senators are currently considering whether to eliminate, reform, or protect the filibuster. The parliamentary procedure that gives the minority outsized power has a long history of being used to undermine civil rights legislation — and it now threatens to derail a bold Democratic agenda that includes voting rights and other pro-democracy reforms.
March 12, 2021 -
The Institute for Southern Studies was founded 51 years ago this week. To celebrate our birthday and commemorate our history, we're republishing an oral history from Sue Thrasher, one of the founders of the organization and an original editor of Southern Exposure magazine, the print publication that preceded Facing South.
March 11, 2021 -
Passed by the House earlier this week and championed by President Biden, the pro-labor law could break the stranglehold that right-to-work laws adopted under Jim Crow have placed on workers' power in the region. But it has to get through the Senate first.
March 10, 2021 -
Republican lawmakers nationwide have introduced over 250 bills this year to restrict voting access in 43 states — 39 bills in Georgia alone. Given the backlash against last year's record-breaking voter turnout playing out at the state level, voting rights advocates are looking to Congress and the promise of H.R. 1, which has now advanced to the U.S. Senate. But can it get past the filibuster?
February 23, 2021 -
A group working to end racial disparities in the state's criminal justice system has launched a campaign to press local officials to take down the Confederate statues standing outside of dozens of courthouses across North Carolina, saying the statues send a message of racial subjugation.
