Keri Leigh Merritt is the author of Masterless Men: Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South. Keith and Keri Leigh Merritt discuss the link between economic hardship and the spread of racism throughout American history.

Franchising: Part II

When talking about our economy, nightly newscasts only seem to report on the stock market and the unemployment rate. But that doesn’t tell us much about how millions of Americans are getting by. From prison phone rates to the high cost of diapers, Congressman Keith Ellison looks at how the people outside of the billionaire and millionaire class (you know, most of us) engage the economy.