TESTIMONY: In the crosshairs of public education's enemies

A U.S. House subcommittee recently held a hearing into ongoing efforts to limit discussion in public school classrooms on American history, race, and LGBTQ+ issues — and to punish teachers who broach those topics. Among those who testified was James Whitfield, a high school principal from North Texas who lost his job after sending students an email in response to killings of Black people by police and white vigilantes that acknowledged systemic racism and called education "a necessary conduit to get liberty and justice for all." (5/24/2022)

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Southern judicial elections hint at big spending this fall

Republicans and corporate interests spent large sums on recent appellate court elections in Arkansas and North Carolina. Incumbents fended off the challenges, but the results set the stage for multimillion-dollar judicial elections this fall as the GOP and its business backers prepare to spend unprecedented amounts on crucial court races. (5/26/2022)

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From the Archives: War resister Walter Collins on racism in the U.S. military

For Memorial Day, we are republishing an interview from a 1973 issue of Southern Exposure with Walter Collins, a longtime Black Freedom Movement activist who was incarcerated in 1970 for refusing the draft. Collins was involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee as well as the Black nationalist group the Republic of New Afrika. His interview touches on questions of colonialism and anti-Black repression in the United States, and is an indictment of the racist aspects of the military. (5/26/2022)

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Infant formula crisis highlights breastfeeding barriers in Southern states

The ongoing infant formula shortage has illuminated another reproductive injustice: low breastfeeding rates in Black communities and in Southern states. Expanding Medicaid to cover lactation services could reduce breastfeeding disparities, but few states in the South have such a policy in place.

The corporate money backing 'great replacement' politicians

The racist and antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims elites are trying to replace the current electorate with immigrants has been tied to numerous domestic U.S. terror attacks, including the recent massacre of Black people inside a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. We look at some of the elected officials who promote the idea — and the corporate contributions flowing to their campaigns.