Something to actually, really be grateful for in the South

The Living South was created by journalist Billy Ball in 2025. Every Tuesday, I write about the most interesting stories, people, and thoughts in the American South. Want to republish something in The Living South? Write me. If you like The Living South, share it with your friends. That's how we grow.
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Nobody likes forced gratitude. It's cloying and annoying. This season is filled with artificial pleas for it. So I'm not going to do that. But I want to talk about something I saw this month that's making me give thanks for the people of the South.

A series of immigration raids shook things up in North Carolina, my home state, last week. Charlotte and the Triangle were the focal points.

As I wrote then, the vast majority of the people being targeted by ICE and Border Patrol officers are people without a criminal history. They are landscapers and cooks and educators and friends and family.

The South has seen masked kidnappers before

ICE and Border Patrol agents are acting less like cops and more like the white terrorist groups that plagued the South for generations.

The Living SouthBilly Ball

It was terrible to see the predatory nature of these raids, and the unabashed racial profiling. I watched videos of Border Patrol agents simply walking up to dark-skinned people and asking where they were from.

But as deflating as that was, it was inspiring to see the reaction too.

The people who got on their devices and set up intricate systems to track Border Patrol and warn others that immigration officers were nearby. They delayed them. Filmed them. Frustrated them.They organized, brilliantly. People can disappoint you, but they can also stun you with their bravery and ingenuity.