Politics

April 23, 2015 - The U.S. Supreme Court sent North Carolina's redistricting challenge back to the state's high court this week, asking it to reconsider whether the legislature relied too heavily on race in drawing voting lines. The decision comes following similar rulings in cases out of Alabama and Virginia, offering hope for an end to racial gerrymandering.

April 20, 2015 - Super PACS that get nearly all of their money from one donor quadrupled their share of overall fund-raising in 2014.

April 17, 2015 - The Welcoming America movement, which has its roots in the South, is being hailed by a White House task force as a model approach for helping communities be more proactive in addressing immigration.

April 10, 2015 - A factor behind the backlash against recent legislative proposals to allow religion-based discrimination against gay people may be the declining clout of white evangelicals -- especially in the South.

March 26, 2015 - This week marked the fifth anniversary of President Obama signing into law the Affordable Care Act, and a "People's Grand Jury" in North Carolina handed down a symbolic indictment of the state's Republican leaders for refusing to expand Medicaid to cover more uninsured low-income people as the law allows.

March 20, 2015 - Passed after the infamous "Bloody Sunday" attack on civil rights protesters in Alabama in 1965, the Voting Rights Act successfully blocked hundreds of potentially discriminatory election changes -- until the Supreme Court struck down a key provision in 2013. There's an effort underway in Congress to fix the hobbled law, but what are its chances of passing?

March 20, 2015 - The Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities' right to vote, also ensures that limited English proficient voters can fully participate in elections. Enforcing those measures will be critical as the South's language minority population grows.