A statue of white supremacist former Mississippi governor Theodore Bilbo has quietly been moved out of sight in the US state’s Capitol.

It is a move praised by black politicians who say he never deserved a place of prominence.

Bilbo was a Democrat known for racist rhetoric.

He was the state governor in 1916-1920 and 1928-1932.

He was in the US Senate from 1935 until he died in 1947.

The statue has been in the state Capitol for decades.

A Legislative Black Caucus member, Democratic Representative Kabir Karriem, says it was “very offensive”.

In 2020, Mississippi shed another symbol of the past, retiring a Confederate-themed state flag.