Forced prison labor is a legacy of slavery that continues today. This exploitation is particularly extreme in the South, which incarcerates people—primarily Black men—at the highest rates in the world and is more likely to force prisoners to work for no pay. #RootedinRacism

Voter suppression makes the racist and anti-worker Southern model possible: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Spotlight Summary: From the abolition of slavery until now, Southern white elites have used a slew of tactics to suppress Black political power and secure their economic interests—including violence, ...

Southern white elites suppress Black political power in order to maintain a Southern economic model that is #RootedinRacism. They use tactics like:

🚫 violence
🚫 voter suppression
🚫 gerrymandering
🚫 mass incarceration
🚫 local preemption laws

🧵1/3

www.epi.org/publication/...

Southern economic policies undermine job quality for auto workers: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Spotlight Summary: The growing auto manufacturing industry in the South offers a powerful opportunity to bring good jobs to the region. But as these jobs shift from the Midwest to the South, we see a decline in...

As auto manufacturing jobs move from the Midwest to the South, job quality in the sector declines. This is thanks to policies that disempower workers and are #RootedinRacism, finds Chandra Childers. 🧵1/5

www.epi.org/publication/...

Southern policymakers leave workers with lower wages and a fraying safety net: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part Three For at least the last 40 years, pay and job quality for workers across the South has been inferior compared to other regions—thanks to the racist and anti-worker Southern economic development model.&n...

Southern politicians often say that their business-friendly policies will produce “good jobs.” But is that true? In Chandra Childer’s new #RootedinRacism report, she shows that Southerners’ access to quality pay & benefits is actually the lowest in the US: www.epi.org/publication/...

🧵1/3
#econsky

Tipping is a racist relic and a modern tool of economic oppression in the South: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Spotlight Summary: This spotlight details the racist history of tipping, federal and state policy governing tipped work, and the experience of tipped workers in the economy—both nationwide and in the South. Acr...

Tipping and the subminimum wage for service workers are practices that are #RootedinRacism and hail from the exploitation of formerly enslaved Black workers following emancipation: 🧵1/6

www.epi.org/publication/...

A graphic promoting "Rooted in Racism: The Failure of the Southern Economic Model" encouraging people to watch on Instagram @economicpolicy

Join us on Tuesday, 6/18 at 1pm for an Instagram town hall discussion of EPI’s #RootedinRacism series on the Southern economic model and how it has failed to bring shared prosperity to the region. Watch on our instagram:

www.instagram.com/economicpoli...

Breaking down the South’s economic underperformance: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part Two States that have embraced the Southern economic development model are underperforming when compared to regions that did not implement this model.

Far from delivering promised shared prosperity, “business-friendly” policies have impoverished the South. On indicator after indicator, states that embrace the Southern economic development model that is #RootedinRacism underperform vs other regions. 🧵1/2

www.epi.org/publication/...

Alabama’s and Maryland’s similar Black unemployment rates mask major differences in labor market conditions Nationally, the Black unemployment rate remains below historic norms, averaging 6% in the first quarter of 2024. Since 2019, two states—Maryland and Alabama—stand out as consistently having Black unem...

While AL follows the Southern economic model that is #RootedinRacism, MD does not, and Black workers in MD are better off for it. The MD-AL comparison shows that policies that support working people can help drive higher rates of employment, too. 🧵 3/3

www.epi.org/blog/alabama...

Operation Dixie was ultimately defeated by a Southern economic model that is #RootedinRacism. Political elites used state power to assist employers in opposing unions while stoking racism to divide Black and white workers. 🧵3/6

Waffle House strike highlights the harms of the Southern economic development model In March, workers at the Waffle House in Conyers, Georgia, went on strike. It’s not difficult to see why: They are paid wages as low as $2.90 per hour before tips, with a $3.00 per shift “meal credit”...

The Waffle House strike in GA was sparked by poor pay and working conditions. "Workers are just another cost to be minimized"-that's the toxic base of the harmful Southern economic model that is #RootedinRacism: 🧵1/4

www.epi.org/blog/waffle-...

The evolution of the Southern economic development strategy: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part One The Southern economic development model has failed to create shared prosperity in the region. In fact, this model was deliberately designed to do the opposite—to extract the labor of Black and brown S...

"States where most Black Americans live have the least accessible UI systems w/ the least generous benefits, shortest durations for receiving benefits + some of the most onerous requirements [it] is not a coincidence" via @epi-org.bsky.social #RootedinRacism #FixUI www.epi.org/publication/...

The evolution of the Southern economic development strategy: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part One The Southern economic development model has failed to create shared prosperity in the region. In fact, this model was deliberately designed to do the opposite—to extract the labor of Black and brown S...

But as the UAW’s recent win shows, southerners can choose a different way forward. It’s time to demand policies that will lift up EVERYONE in the region. 🧵4/4

Read the #RootedinRacism report below:

www.epi.org/publication/...

The evolution of the Southern economic development strategy: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part One The Southern economic development model has failed to create shared prosperity in the region. In fact, this model was deliberately designed to do the opposite—to extract the labor of Black and brown S...

This week marks almost 80 years since Operation Dixie, the largest effort to unionize workers across the South in American history. Operation Dixie was unfortunately defeated by a Southern economic development model that is #RootedinRacism 🧵1/4

www.epi.org/publication/...

The evolution of the Southern economic development strategy: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part One The Southern economic development model has failed to create shared prosperity in the region. In fact, this model was deliberately designed to do the opposite—to extract the labor of Black and brown S...

But as the UAW’s recent win shows, southerners can choose a different way forward. It’s time to demand policies that will lift up EVERYONE in the region.  Read the #RootedinRacism report below: go.epi.org/rooted1

The evolution of the Southern economic development strategy: Rooted in Racism and Economic Exploitation: Part One The Southern economic development model has failed to create shared prosperity in the region. In fact, this model was deliberately designed to do the opposite—to extract the labor of Black and brown S...

This week marks almost 80 years since Operation Dixie, the largest effort to unionize workers across the South in American history. Operation Dixie was unfortunately defeated by a Southern economic development model that is #RootedinRacism go.epi.org/rooted1