Mississippi Rep. Karl Oliver

Mississippi state Rep. Karl Oliver says that Louisiana leaders should be lynched for removing Confederate monuments and that he will do everything within his power to make sure that Mississippi does not follow suit.




As previously reported by The Root, the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed last Friday, making it the last of four Confederate monuments to go down. The others were statues of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and an obelisk dedicated to the Battle of Liberty Place.


Mississippi state Sen. Derrick Simmons shared Oliver’s post on his social media accounts:

Oliver’s post reads as follows:

The destruction of these monuments, erected in the loving memory of our family and fellow Southern Americans, is both heinous and horrific. If the, and I use this term extremely loosely, “leadership” of Louisiana wishes to, in a Nazi-ish fashion, burn books or destroy historical monuments of OUR HISTORY, they should be LYNCHED! Let it be known, I will do all in my power to prevent this from happening in our State.


Oliver represents Money, Miss., the town where domestic terrorists Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, along with their accomplices, lynched 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955.

“I am offended and outraged that a public official in 2017 would, with an obvious conviction and clear conscience, call for and promote one of the most cruel, vicious, and wicked acts in American history,” Simmons told The Root.


Mississippi state Rep. Chris Bell called Oliver’s post “unacceptable”:

“Angered beyond words by the inflammatory remarks made by the Representative from District 46,” Bell wrote on Facebook. “His constant and consistent disrespect for those who are offended by the images of hate is unacceptable! I will fight with vigor and tenacity to ensure not only our current state flag is removed along with those images that glorify hate.”


Oliver is not unique in his anger. Many Dixiecrats and Republicans in the Miss-Lou are determined to live by the motto, “Where the old South still lives.”




Over and over again, Mississippi has voted to keep that filthy rag of a flag flying because it represents white supremacy—or what racists call legacy and cultural inheritance. The antebellum tourism industry fuels a plantation economy that thrives on entrenched discrimination.

Last year Natchez, Miss., voted to take down the Confederate flag from county buildings, but Mammy’s Cupboard—a restaurant that allows predominantly white patrons to eat under “Mammy’s” skirts—still stands.


Slavery was sustained by the continued rape of black women, but repudiating sexual and state violence against them takes a back seat to tourist dollars and lunch specials.


So, when Oliver speaks, he’s preaching to his rabid choir. Be very clear, though: Oliver may not be alone in his resistance to human decency, but the Mississippi #TakeItDown campaign is in full effect; so are the organizational efforts to dismantle the white supremacist system it adorns.


While I’m sure his words sounded threatening to him, especially raising the specter of lynchings, he must know that Mississippi is a state full of Fannie’s sons and daughters.

And, if he didn’t, it might be in his best interests to remember now.