The Southern Gap
33. The southern gap: In the American South, an oligarchy of planters enriched itself through slavery. Pervasive underdevelopment is their legacy , by Keri Leigh Merritt and published by * aeon , April 2, 2024. Linked by Conor Friedersdorf for his weekly Recommended Reading Sunday, April 7, 2024 newsletter. I think most people have noted the imbalance of wealth in the South of the country from that of the North and West. We've read it in books like Gone With the Wind and To Kill A Mockingbird and in present day writing like The Warmth of Other Suns . These are examples that I can recall easily. Many will name other literary examples. We know it from movies; as in one of my favorite movies ever, Sounder . We know it from radio stories such as NPR's Story Corps with Francine Anderson's poignant and revealing childhood story , television and from our own visits to the south. This essay is a clear and bracing e...