Black Editor Steps Down From Alabama Newspaper That Published An Editorial Wishing The KKK Would 'Ride Again'
The Black editor of a small-town Alabama newspaper is resigning after an editorial was ran in a paper she was hired to do subsequent damage control for. The op-ed called for the Ku Klux Klan to “ride again.”
Elecia R. Dexter told the New York Times on Friday (March 15) she stepped down after only a few weeks on the job because of continuing interference from the newspaper’s owner who was the one who published the editorial.
Dexter says she wanted to maintain her “integrity and well-being,” but says she wishes everything would’ve turned out different. Last month, Dexter replaced 80-year-old Goodloe Sutton as editor and publisher of the Democrat-Reporter of Linden. Sutton is the one who wrote the piece titled, “Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again.”
In the editorial Sutton wrote 'Democrats in the Republican Party and Democrats are plotting to raise taxes in Alabama,' so the KKK should raid their communities.
After resigning, Sutton said, “I can drink beer and chase women now. They can't run too fast, or I can't catch them.” Even though Sutton was out, he still maintained ownership of the Democrat-Reporter and, according to Dexter, interfered with the paper’s operations, which was the primary reason she stepped down.
Linden’s Democrat-Reporter dates back to 1879 and consistently runs conservative op-eds, which are often critical of Democrats.