Politics

September 13, 2021 - The North Carolina NAACP is challenging the racially gerrymandered legislature's authority to put a voter ID question on the ballot, which voters passed in 2018. The state's highest court has postponed arguments while it decides whether two justices closely connected to the legislature must sit out the case. 

September 3, 2021 - Even before the pandemic, evictions disproportionately hurt Black people living in the South. Now, with the moratorium lifted, Black communities will be hit even harder. Meanwhile, Southern states have been slow to distribute federal aid aimed at avoiding evictions. 

September 3, 2021 - A Texas law passed in May that bans abortions starting at six weeks of pregnancy went into effect this week after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. Abortion providers in neighboring states are preparing for an onslaught of patients from Texas.

September 1, 2021 - Automatic voter registration has dramatically expanded the electorate in states including Georgia, but Republican lawmakers have targeted the policy for elimination.

August 20, 2021 - A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists finds an "alarming" level of concentration in Arkansas's chicken industry. Facing South spoke with the report's author about the implications of such high levels of concentration for farmers, workers, and consumers, and possible policy solutions.

August 19, 2021 - The latest census data shows the U.S. has grown less white over the past decade, driven in part by an increase in the Latino population in Southern states including Georgia and Texas. But it's unclear if population growth in communities of color will translate to political clout in the upcoming state redistricting process.

August 18, 2021 - On the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, protestors will once again descend on the nation's capital as well as cities across the South to demand congressional action on civil rights. They're pressing for passage of the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which have been stalled in the Senate because of Republican obstruction and some Democrats' unwillingness to end the filibuster.