Sociology major, Salem Seymour, recently published an article that traces the origins of Jim Crow laws in the US South in the journal Spectre. The article, co-authored by sociology professor, Dr. Cody Melcher, shows, through a critical reinterpretation of late-19 th century southern history, that Jim Crow laws were passed in an attempt to repress and co-opt a radical interracial working-class movement centered around white and Black sharecroppers.

You can find the article here.

After graduation, Salem plans to attend graduate school and eventually earn their PhD. Her current research focuses on the intersection between economic insecurity and racial resentment among white Americans, particularly in the South. In her future doctorate studies, she hopes to continue investigating how the commodification of labor gives way to racial antagonisms, and how to most effectively take these observations into account in the attempt to build a strong labor movement in the American South.