Wesley Pruden sparked anger when he wrote that President Obama lacks a "natural instinct or blood impulse" for what America is about because of his family's racial history. It wasn't the first time the native Arkansan and the paper he once edited have expressed troubling views on race. More...
FACING SOUTH - Online Magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies
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Remembering civil rights leader James Armstrong
The Birmingham, Ala. resident and Army veteran fell to his knees but never dropped the American flag he carried through the violence of 1965's Bloody Sunday civil rights march. Armstrong died this week at 86. More...
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Daily Blog
Watchdog group files complaint against Sen. Landrieu's campaign for mysterious donation to Treasury
FRI 11/20 | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has asked federal elections officials to investigate a $25,300 donation to the U.S. Treasury last year by the Louisiana lawmaker's campaign. Was it made to cover up illegal contributions? More...
Virginia Tech massacre survivor captures shady gun dealers on hidden camera
FRI 11/20 | Working with a gun-violence prevention group, Colin Goddard shares his undercover footage from gun shows to make the case for closing a legal loophole that allows gun sales without background checks. More...
Court finds Army Corps liable for Katrina damage caused by New Orleans shipping channel
THURS 11/19 | A federal ruling about the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet could put pressure on the Obama administration to help settle claims for damages that could reach into the billions of dollars. More...
Which way will Landrieu go?
THURS 11/19 | Sen. Harry Reid's health bill is out, and now all eyes are on key senate swing votes like Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. Given her mixed messages on health reform, which way will she go -- and what will it mean for her career? More...
Washington home of politically elite Christian group loses tax-exempt status
WED 11/18 | It turns out that the C Street home of The Family is not really a church deserving of nonprofit status after all. Looks like rent hikes are in store for residents including Sen. Jim DeMint (D-S.C.) and Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). More...
An unreported culprit in New Orleans' slow recovery: low wages
WED 11/18 | Policy-makers have focused on housing to jump-start New Orleans' sluggish recovery, but a new report finds nearly half of the city's employee's make less than $35,000 a year -- a big barrier to finding an affordable home. More...
Investigations & Reports
SPECIAL REPORT: How is Obama doing on Gulf Coast recovery?
AUGUST 2009 | In the Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast, the election of Barack Obama and a new Congress brought hope for a renewed commitment to finishing up the job of full recovery. But four years after the storm, a survey of local leaders finds many believe Obama hasn't lived up to his promises -- and that little in Washington has changed. More...
"Death panel" architect a pro-life Republican from Georgia?
AUGUST 2009 | Some of the anger over health care reform focuses on a provision encouraging elderly patients to plan for end-of-life care, a provision misrepresented by opponents as a "death panel" to determine who lives and who dies. But one of the biggest promoters of advance care planning is Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia -- a pro-life Republican. More...
INVESTIGATION: Do dirty coal plants make us more vulnerable to swine flu?
JUNE 2009 | A new study has found that exposure to arsenic -- a cancer-causing element emitted in large quantities by coal-burning power plants and other industrial facilities -- made mice more likely to experience the most severe effects of swine flu. So why are some lawmakers fighting regulations that would better protect Americans from arsenic pollution? More...
Investigation: Revelations about Three Mile Island disaster raise doubts over nuclear plant safety
APRIL 2009 | Thirty years ago Randall and Joy Thompson were hired to monitor radiation releases after the Three Mile Island reactor meltdown. What they saw didn't match what officials say happened -- but, fearing for their lives, they gave up trying to tell their story. Now, Facing South shares their account -- and their warning about the dangers of a nuclear revival. More...
Investigation: Are waste-coal power plants making us sick?
MARCH 2009 | The federal agency charged with protecting the public from pollution is accused of suppressing research suggesting a possible link between waste-coal-burning power plants and blood cancer. More...
Investigation: Southern states receive $15 billion in bailout money passed through AIG
MARCH 2009 | Seven Southern states received at least $100 million each thanks to taxpayer bailout money passed through insurance giant AIG. More...
Investigation: Business bankrolls study claiming job losses from Employee Free Choice Act
MARCH 2009 | A study claiming a labor bill before Congress would destroy 600,000 jobs is being seized on by business groups and the media. But few have mentioned the corporate interests backing the report -- and no one is looking at the shaky research itself. More...
Investigation: The oil money behind the anti-stimulus fight
FEBRUARY 2009 | An organization financed by the largest private oil and gas corporation in the country played a key role in the fight against the Congressional stimulus plan. Why? More...
More Recent Coverage
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims to be "the voice of business." But a series of scandals, defections and even an embarrassing prank have cracked their image as an invincible force in pushing their conservative agenda. More...
More than 1,000 uninsured people showed up for a free health clinic at the city's Convention Center on Saturday -- some of whom were very sick but hadn't seen a doctor in years. Did the politicians notice? More...
The Blue Dog Democrat from North Carolina delivers statements on health reform that sound a lot like those made by the arch-conservative from South Carolina. As it turns out, Shuler's record of enjoying generous campaign contributions from the health industry also resembles Wilson's. More...
As the H1N1 virus spreads, the South's share of children dying from swine flu has declined -- but the region still accounts for more than two out of five swine flu fatalities. More...
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says Westinghouse has failed to demonstrate the safety of the AP1000 reactor that's slated for 14 of the nation's 25 proposed new nuclear plants -- all in the South. Meanwhile, the NRC's official watchdog asks the Justice Department to investigate whether the AP1000 project got improper insider help from the agency. More...
An attorney arrested while protesting a coal-fired power plant under construction in North Carolina says he's disappointed -- he had hoped his case would allow him to confront Duke CEO Jim Rogers about the "environmental disaster." More...
The latest release from the independent vintage music label based in Raleigh, N.C. features songs from the mill villages of Gaston County, N.C. in the late 1920s and early 1930s. More...
