Jamie R. Riley resigned as dean of students at the University of Alabama

A black dean at the University of Alabama has resigned after a conservative website highlighted old tweets he sent linking the US flag with racism.

News outlets quote a university statement as saying dean of students and assistant vice president Jamie R. Riley resigned a day after the story by Breitbart News.

The website published a report saying a tweet on Riley's social media feed from 2017 stated that the American flag represents a 'history of racism' for black people.

It said police are part of that system.

'The [American] flag represents a systemic history of racism for my people,' Riley tweeted in September 2017.

The website Breitbart News published a report saying a tweet on Riley's social media feed from 2017 stated that the American flag represents a 'history of racism' for black people. The University of Alabama's campus in Tuscaloosa is seen in the above stock image

'Police are a part of that system. Is it that hard to see the correlation?'

Another tweet expressed bafflement about how white people can make a judgment on racism when they can't experience it.

'I’m baffled about how the first thing white people say is, ‘That’s not racist!’ when they can’t even experience racism,' read the tweet.

Riley had served in the position in Tuscaloosa since February. He's a former executive director of Alpha Phi Alpha, a historically black fraternity.