Black Editor Quits Alabama Newspaper That Called For KKK to 'Ride Again'

The black woman who took over a small-town Alabama newspaper after its previous editor proposed the return of the Ku Klux Klan has resigned after less than a month on the job, The Hill reported on Sunday.

Elecia Dexter’s decision to quit is the latest in a saga that began when the previous editor, Goodloe Sutton, wrote an editorial in Linden’s The Democrat-Reporter urging the KKK to "ride again" to block tax increases in the state. 

The editorial sparked outrage nationwide, with Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and others calling for him to resign, CNN reported.

In response to the criticism, Dexter was suddenly promoted last month in an attempt to steer the newspaper in a "new direction," 

“I would have liked it to turn out a different way, but it didn’t,” Dexter told The New York Times. “This is a hard one because it’s sad -- so much good could have come out of this.”

Dexter said she resigned to keep her “integrity and well-being” after Sutton reportedly emailed an altered version of the The Democrat-Reporter's February 28 issue to local news outlets and advertisers that included a front page story defending his editorial and critizing The Montgomery Advertiser's coverage.

• Alabama Newspaper Editor Calls for Return of KKK
• Ala. Pols Call for KKK 'Ride Again' Editor's Resignation