Alday says he's not racist; GOP leaders decry statements

State Rep. Gene Alday, R-Walls, who came under fire after his racist comments appeared in a Clarion-Ledger article Sunday about public education, said today his remarks were out of context and that he's a nice guy.

"I'm not a bad person, and that makes me look like an evil person," Alday said Monday. "I didn't do anything wrong. The guy made me look like a fool."

The comments in question refer to African-Americans in his hometown of Walls, a small community in Desoto County. Alday, 57, said that he comes "from a town where all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call 'welfare crazy checks.' They don't work."

He also said that when he went to the emergency room one time, "I liked to died. I laid in there for hours because they (blacks) were in there being treated for gunshots."

Since then, people around the state have condemned the remarks with some calling for his resignation.

House Democrats, including members of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, held a press conference saying they're concerned Alday's words reflect the general sentiment among GOP leadership. They're calling for a serious discussion with top elected officials to address the issues.

"Maybe it's more prevalent than we realize," said state Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez.

Republican leadership took pains to distance themselves from Alday's remarks. Gov. Phil Bryant issued a statement saying the legislator alone is responsible for his words.

"I strongly reject his comments condemning any Mississippian because of their race," the governor said. "Those day are long past."



But the former mayor, former police chief and current first-term legislator said he had no idea his remarks would appear in a story and, if he had, he wouldn't have made them.

"It was late at night and he called me," Alday said of his earlier interview with Clarion-Ledger investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell. "He asked me a question back to when I was in law enforcement … I have a way of talking and saying, 'take this off the record.'"

Instead, Alday said, Mitchell used his casual, off-the-cuff comments as an official statement without providing the full context of his feelings on the matter.

Mitchell said he contacted Alday about education funding last week and that the legislator steered the discussion toward race. The comments appeared as they were given and within the context of the discussion, Mitchell said.

But Alday said the reporter failed to write about the numerous times Alday has helped people of all races in his community, whether that meant giving them rides to the doctor or providing credit on merchandise at the store run by his family.

"Yes, it's true that most of the blacks in my hometown are on welfare," Alday said. "But they're good people. I don't have anything against anybody. I'm a straight-up guy. In my little town they had little civil rights walks and I was with them. I'm with everybody."

Clarion-Ledger Executive Editor Sam Hall called on Alday to retire following the remarks, saying the lawmaker should step down at the end of this term without seeking re-election.

Alday, though, said Monday he plans to seek one more term.

Others denounce Alday's remarks

Republicans and Democrats alike have denounced Alday's statements in the day since they first appeared in print.

"The racially divisive comments by Rep Gene Alday harken us back to Mississippi of the 1960's," said state Rep. Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto, and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "I hope and pray there is a real vast divide between the way that Mississippians view one another today and the comments that appeared in this article. Other than that, to comment further is simply engaging in divisiveness that helps no one."

State Rep. Chuck Espy, D-Clarksdale, issued a statement saying the House Republican leadership "should take responsibility" for what its members say "including messages that are reprehensible and divisive."

"We should lambaste Alday, and also check those whom allow him the opportunity to speak," Espy said. "… The abhorrent rhetoric is intended to galvanize and old base. However, even those in his district are more sophisticated than to be seduced by suck obsolete vitriol."

But Republicans have distanced themselves from Alday's comments.

Speaker of the House Philip Gunn condemned the remarks and said "they do not reflect the views of the Republican party, nor of the leadership of the House of Representatives."



State Republican Party Chairman Joe Nosef on Monday said "we are very disappointed." But then he accused his Democratic counterpart of hypocrisy for not being as critical of U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson for comments he made last year on radio.

"(Alday's) statements certainly do not reflect the views of the Mississippi Republican Party, its leadership or membership and are absolutely unacceptable," Nosef said. "I sure wish (Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole) was just as eager to speak out when one of his own Democrat officials has said something. Recently, Bennie Thompson said the governor was only against Obamacare because a black man created it, and Chairman Cole refused to comment directly. Hypocrisy is part of politics, but Rickey is better than that."

Cole had this to say: "When I first read Rep. Alday's comments in yesterday's Clarion-Ledger last evening, my first thought was of the great damage such attitudes do to our state's efforts to make progress and grow as people who can work together and respect each other. In an unguarded moment, Alday gave voice to an ugly set of prejudices that have crippled our state, driven so many away forever, and caused immeasurable pain, suffering and death.

"White supremacy is the original sin of Mississippi, and Rep. Alday stepped up to the microphone and reveled in that sin once again. I emailed Joe Nosef last night and urged him to repudiate Alday's remarks. I'm glad to see that he and other leaders of the party of Lincoln did so. But Chairman Nosef had to hedge his bet with the voters who agree with Alday by mentioning comments made by our sole African American Congressman about Phil Bryant. Here's the difference, Joe: Congressman Thompson was talking about one man, by name. Alday attacked an entire race. There is no comparison, and to attempt to draw one cheapens the earlier repudiation. Mississippi deserves better."

Clarion-Ledger political editor Geoff Pender and reporter Jimmie E. Gates contributed to this story.

Contact Emily Le Coz at (601) 961-7249 or elecoz@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @emily_lecoz on Twitter.