Recovering our Courage
In every state in the South, the percentage of residents with bachelor's degrees or higher who were born outside the state exceed the percentage of those born in-state, reflecting our dependence on imported talent over of our own talent-development systems.
We mark MDC's 50th anniversary with a new report, State of the South: Recovering Our Courage, a sobering look at a region that made great strides in the 1960s and '70s improving education, income, and health by removing barriers to opportunity for African American and low-income residents, but now finds itself falling back. The result: the lowest upward economic mobility rates in the nation as young people are not adequately prepared for jobs being filled by newcomers.
We examine the South through three lenses critical to social and economic progress—belonging, thriving and contributing—and recommend solutions for creating Southern communities where all people thrive.