Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Was Member Of College Fraternity Under Fire For Racism

[Judi Lynn]

02/08/2019 06:00 am ET Updated 17 hours ago

Some members of the fraternity donned blackface, wigs and Confederate flags.

By Amanda Terkel



ROGELIO V. SOLIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R), shown here at a school choice rally on Jan. 22, is running for governor in November.

Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) was a member of a college fraternity that was known for pro-Confederate displays and run-ins with black students.

Reeves, who is running for governor in this fall’s election, was in Kappa Alpha Order at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. A 1993 yearbook lists him as a freshman that year, and he was featured as a Kappa Alpha member starting in the 1994 yearbook. The fraternity, which is still active at Millsaps, looks to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as its spiritual leader.

On Oct. 8, 1994, members of Kappa Alpha and another fraternity “donned Afro wigs and tied large Confederate flags around their necks,” according to an article in The Clarion-Ledger at the time. Some of them were also reportedly in blackface. The fraternity brothers “got into a shouting match” over the incident with some black students. The state fraternity leader defended the chapter, saying it was “getting a bad rap” and blamed a few rogue individuals.

Members of the Black Students Association asked for the fraternity to be suspended.

More:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mississippi-lieutenant-governor-tate-reeves-kappa-alpha_us_5c5c86e7e4b0e01e32aa6919

[efhmc]

1. I knew which fraternity it was without reading.

Same kind of guys were members at my university during a different time and in a different state They are known for this behavior.