Editor who called for Klu Klux Klan to ‘ride again’ replaced by black woman

Alabama editor says he is 'going to drink beer and sex young women' following resignation

Goodloe Sutton has a history of publishing racist, sexist and homophobic articles as editor of the Democrat-Reporter (AFP/Democrat-Reporter)

The editor of an Alabama newspaper who called for the return of the Klu Klux Klan and lynchings of Democrat politicians has been replaced by an African-American woman.

In a press release, the Democrat-Reporter announced Elecia R Dexter would become the newspaper’s new editor and publisher after longstanding editor Goodloe Sutton resigned following an editorial he published entitled “Klan needs to ride again”.

When asked about his resignation, Mr Sutton said he was “going to drink beer and sex young women.”

“I am not going to do anything with it [the paper]. I’m going to be a dead beat – an out-of-work dead beat,” he told the Alabama Political Reporter.

Ms Dexter has previously worked as a “strategic leader with expertise in human resources, operations and change management” for the Democrat-Reporter, according to a statement from the newspaper.

Mr Sutton will retain ownership of the paper, which does not publish online and had a circulation of around 3,000 in 2015, but Ms Dexter will handle everything else.

Alabama senator Doug Jones welcomed the resignation and said Mr Sutton’s “dangerous views do not represent Alabama or the small-town papers in Alabama that do great work every day.”

Terri A Sewell, a congresswoman for the state, said: “Mr Sutton has made a lot of poor decisions, but stepping down is the right thing to do. Now, he must apologise.”

In the editorial, published on 14 February, Mr Sutton called for a “raid” on the homes of Democrats and “Democrats in the Republican Party” for “plotting to raise taxes in Alabama”.

When asked to elaborate on his statement, he told the Montgomery Advertiser he wanted the KKK to “clean out DC”.

“We’ll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them,” he said.

His final edition as editor of the paper published letters praising the editorial on the front page, including one from a self-professed Klansman.

Ms Dexter said she had spoken to Mr Sutton about his editorial.

“I told him there were some different ways you could have made your point," she told The Associated Press.

Following the publication of the KKK editorial, local journalists said they found a history of racist, sexist and homophobic editorials published by the newspaper.

One allegedly claimed “slavery was a good lesson for the Jews” and another said “foreigners to America brought in HIV, AIDs, etc.”

The Alabama Press Association voted to censure Mr Sutton and suspend membership of the Democrat-Reporter earlier this week.