When the New York Times unveiled its 1619 Project to draw attention to the idea that America’s history began 400 years ago, when the first ship carrying enslaved Africans arrived in colonial Virginia, those of us involved in Southern philanthropy immediately understood how the project put into focus the complexity of our regional history and the enduring shadow of events from long ago, offering a perspective often missing from the mainstream narrative.
No region bears more scars of our nation’s troubled racial history than the American South. Today, the South is strongly affected by many crises that are considered national in scope, including economic inequality, persistent poverty, mass shootings, opioid abuse, and more. Scientists also predict the South will feel the impacts of climate change far more than any other region of the country.
These are current, immediate problems. But as the 1619 Project demonstrates, they are exacerbated and further entrenched by hundreds of years of oppression, violence, and disenfranchisement.
While the past has considerable influence on where we are today, what we can see in the future is also critical. The South includes some of the fastest-growing states in the country and houses well over a third of the U.S. population. This growth, powered to a great extent by an influx of Latinx residents and African Americans, foreshadows demographic trends that are reshaping the American populace. The swelling ranks of Southerners are bringing about a rapid expansion of the region’s political and economic clout.
Simply put, national progress is impossible without Southern progress.
This is important to remember as we examine what philanthropy, in the South and nationally, can do to spark lasting change. We know more is needed — despite its growth, the South continues to see far less philanthropic investment per capita than other parts of the country. The latest data from Candid, for example, shows that the South houses only 18 percent of U.S. private and community foundations and just 11 percent of all U.S. foundation assets.
Still, many foundations in the South, as well as national grant makers that have taken an interest in the region, are doing transformative work, especially as they tackle systemic racism and promote equity for the most marginalized residents. Unfortunately, we have yet to see much large-scale regional impact. Particularly for people of color and Native Americans, measures of progress show a disappointing picture.
The overall poverty rate in the South remains higher than the national average. Data shows that 84 percent of counties that have suffered from long-term poverty are in the South, and recent studies show escaping poverty is considerably tougher in major Southern cities than elsewhere in America. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 10 of 11 states in the Southeast are ranked among the lowest third in terms of overall child well-being. Residents in nine of 11 Southern states have a lower-than-average life expectancy.
What progress we have achieved has not been shared equitably. While poverty rates for both whites and non-whites in the South have improved over the past 50 years, the percentage of black households experiencing poverty remains more than twice as high. The 2017 report Philanthropy as the South’s Passing Gear: Fulfilling the Promise, produced by the Southeastern Council of Foundations and MDC, found that significant racial disparities continue to exist in educational attainment across the region, both in elementary and secondary education and at colleges and universities. These racial disparities are endemic to our country but are more deeply pronounced in the South.
Clearly, something has to change — a different mind-set, bold ideas, and new approaches are needed.
As the Southeastern Council on Foundations marks its 50th anniversary this year, we have begun to consider what the next 50 years of investing in the South will look like. In the region that birthed and propelled the civil rights movement, we ask: How can philanthropy seed the next wave of activism that will move us toward the “beloved community” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sought?
As we examine both the last 400 years and the next 50 years, we see many opportunities for Southern and national philanthropy to step forward, together, and help make the South a thriving and equitable place.
Southern philanthropy cannot shoulder this burden alone. Slavery, while rooted and concentrated in the South, underpinned the entire American economy and was, for decades, supported well beyond the states where it was practiced. The same can be said today of the many problems that plague Southern communities — while historical inequities in the region increase their severity, these issues are by no means absent from other parts of the country.
More philanthropic investment — not just of grant dollars, but also of social, moral, intellectual, and reputational capital — is needed to overcome long-lasting disparities in outcomes. A rich tradition already exists of grant makers from outside the South working with foundations and grassroots nonprofits that are based in the region and understand its complexities. It is time to take this work to the next level with philanthropic investments that embrace a long-term strategy and deep, meaningful partnerships with local organizations as well as community activists and leaders.
This will require strong leadership by organizations in the South to build ties to foundations that work nationally and encourage new approaches that promote equity in every undertaking.
America’s story started when an atrocity in the South, based on dehumanization, led to 400 years of enslavement, segregation, discrimination, and mass incarceration. These practices have presented an obstacle to our nation living up to the values — equality, life, liberty, and happiness — it has aspired to since its founding.
Progress since then has been slow and uneven — at times, it feels like we are backsliding. Still, we have arrived at a critical juncture, for the South, our country, and philanthropy. Multiple tipping points — demographic, ecological, economic, and more — seem to have arrived all at once. Anything, from breakthrough success to catastrophic failure, seems possible.
In this moment, philanthropy — if it has the courage to use its power as a community catalyst and source of risk capital — can play a critical role. In collaboration with business, government, and other partners, we have the opportunity to ensure a future defined by hope, love, and justice for not only our region, but also the entire nation.
Janine Lee is chief executive of the Southeastern Council of Foundations. Tyler Nickerson is a regular contributor to the Chronicle of Philanthropy and first vice president at Amalgamated Bank. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Amalgamated Bank.