An editor for a small Alabama newspaper, the Democrat-Reporter, wrote an op-ed last week calling for the KKK to return.
Editor Goodloe Sutton wrote and published said article, which begins, “Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again,” according to the Montgomery Advertiser, who also interviewed Sutton.
In the interview, Sutton admitted that he wanted the “Klan to go up there and clean out [Washington,] D.C.”
“We’ll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them,” Sutton clarified about what he wanted the Klan to do in D.C.
Additionally, Sutton claimed that he did not want to lynch Americans; he was only talking about “socialist-communists.”
It appears that this isn’t Sutton’s first time writing racist rhetoric. In 2017, Sutton allegedly said of black football players kneeling during the national anthem, “That’s what black folks were taught to do two hundred years ago, kneel for the white man.”
This editorial was in the Democrat-Republican in October 2017 (according to one of our readers). Racism seems to be his native tongue pic.twitter.com/HvbvfA651Q
— Andrew Yawn (@yawn_meister) February 19, 2019
The editorial has sparked controversy online; even Alabama lawmakers such as Doug Jones has called on Sutton to resign.
OMG! What rock did this guy crawl out from under? This editorial is absolutely disgusting & he should resign -NOW!
I have seen what happens when we stand by while people-especially those with influence- publish racist, hateful views.
Words matter. Actions matter. Resign now! https://t.co/V1V1vxDBKH
— Doug Jones (@DougJones) February 19, 2019
Sutton also wrote in the article that “the industrial northeast wanted more money,” after claiming that Democrats were responsible for getting the United States involved in every war from World War I to the Iraq War
In the interview, Sutton also denied that the KKK were ever violent and also compared them to the NAACP. (Related: ‘I Honestly Don’t Think It’s That Controversial’ — Tomi Lauren Explains Why She Thinks Black Lives Matter Is Like The KKK)
This story was first spotted and broken by Chip Brownlee, the editor-in-chief of the Auburn Plainsman on Monday.
In response to this editorial, the University of Southern Mississippi removed Sutton from the School of Mass Communication and Journalism’s Hall of Fame.
Sutton was first inducted into the hall of fame in 2007 for work he did on an anti-corruption story published in the 1990s.