History

January 24, 2013 - President Obama outlined a decidedly progressive-minded agenda for his second term -- one the South's white oligarchy of business, political, religious and media leaders will fight tooth and nail.

January 18, 2013 - Much of the impetus for the civil rights movement came from students who led marches, took beatings, sang freedom songs, and went to jail. James Orange organized schools in Birmingham, Ala. and recounted his experiences in a 1981 interview in Southern Exposure, which we share in honor of the magazine's 40th anniversary.

January 11, 2013 - The new year promises lots of action on the labor front -- and as always in the South, it comes with heavy baggage from the past.

December 11, 2012 - In addition to hearing challenges to laws banning same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, landmark civil rights legislation that's been increasingly under attack.

December 5, 2012 - U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms died in 2008 without ever disavowing his support for racial segregation, which is why some are protesting a bill to name a post office after him in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C. But there's something apropos about the proposal, as Helms pioneered the use of the postal service to promote his divisive politics.

November 15, 2012 - Three days after an election that saw numerous attempts to suppress the minority vote, the high court agreed to hear Shelby County, Ala.'s challenge to the Voting Rights Act.

November 12, 2012 - Amid all the talk of a "New South," the region remains plagued by the old problems of entrenched poverty and racism.

October 29, 2012 - The authors of the 1968 Fair Housing Act wanted to reverse decades of government-fostered segregation. But presidents from both parties declined to enforce a law that stirred vehement opposition.

October 1, 2012 - Today marks 50 years since James Meredith became the first black person to enter the University of Mississippi, sparking a riot that some have called "the last battle of the Civil War." Now 80, he has continued to baffle admirers and detractors throughout his life.

September 27, 2012 - A remembrance of Victor Bussie, a longtime Louisiana labor leader who fought anti-union laws and whose home was bombed by the Klan.