SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A South Dakota lawmaker removed a social media post that some fellow lawmakers described as “a direct expression of racism and sexism.”
Meanwhile, a legislative leader declined to act on the post and criticized the legislators who complained about it.
Aberdeen Republican Rep. Logan Manhart posted a photo of himself Friday on Instagram captioned, “It’s a white boy summer and the boys are back in charge. #MAGA,” according to screenshots of the post, some of which were shared by people condemning it. The post has since been removed.
Manhart did not respond to a message from South Dakota Searchlight. He wrote Monday on Facebook that criticisms of the post described him as racist, sexist and antisemitic, and he said those descriptions “could not be further from the truth.”
“I love our state, our nation, and all of our people,” Manhart wrote on Facebook. “God bless each and every one of you and your families. Have a wonderful and festive SOUTH DAKOTA SUMMER.”
Manhart’s Facebook post did not include an apology.
Five Democratic state representatives, including House Minority Leader Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls, sent a letter to House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach and House Speaker Jon Hansen, both Republicans, on Sunday calling on Manhart to apologize and urging legislative leaders to “address this with the seriousness it demands.”
“This is not a joke. It is a direct expression of racism and sexism, rooted in white supremacy and patriarchal power,” the letter said. “For an elected official to celebrate the return of ‘white boys’ being ‘in charge’ is a disgraceful signal that our government should belong to a narrow, privileged group — rather than to all South Dakotans.”
“White Boy Summer” became popular in 2021 as a meme and rap song by Chet Hanks, son of actor Tom Hanks. The song references drug use and other sexual acts, and is a play on the 2019 song “Hot Girl Summer” by rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
“White boy summer was created to be fun, playful and a celebration of fly white boys who love beautiful queens of every race,” Hanks wrote last year.
The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism reports that the phrase “white boy summer” has been co-opted by extremist groups and has “escalated into a powerful global call-to-action for far-right recruitment, protest and violence.”
“Several extremist groups including the Proud Boys, White Lives Matter, the Identitarian movement in Europe and neo-Nazi Active Clubs are all using ‘White Boy Summer’ to spread propaganda, recruit new members and facilitate targeted hate campaigns including acts of vandalism and hate incidents,” the group wrote.
Manhart’s post caught the attention of social media users across the nation, including Toby Morton, a former writer for the TV show “South Park” who posted that Manhart “forgot to buy his own domains” and that Manhart is “about to find out what public records and petty people can do with a .com.”
The letter from the Democratic lawmakers said South Dakota is “a state rich with diversity and strength,” including Native Americans whose land was “taken through broken treaties, displacement, and violence.”
“To ignore that truth, or the continued harm experienced by Indigenous communities and other marginalized people, is not just a moral failure — it is a betrayal of our public duty,” the letter said.
Manhart represents District 1, which includes the Lake Traverse Reservation and tribal land of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate.
Dismissing Manhart’s remarks “would send a chilling message that hate and exclusion are welcome in our Capitol,” the letter added.
Majority Leader Odenbach responded to the letter in an email to lawmakers, which was shared with South Dakota Searchlight, saying it would be impossible to police and respond to social media posts of all state representatives, or “to divine their underlying meaning.”
He added that he rejects the “insinuation that South Dakota is a state founded by racist oppressors, or that our great citizens of today are the cause” of continued harm to Native Americans and other marginalized groups.
“This is an outrageous slur on our fellow South Dakotans, whether living or dead,” Odenbach said, addressing the signers of the letter. “You can and must do better.”
Healy told South Dakota Searchlight that she and her Democratic colleagues “raised the issue because we’d be complicit in letting harmful rhetoric go unchallenged” otherwise. She added that “acknowledging truths about our history is not an attack on South Dakota” or its residents.
Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden, who is running for the 2026 Republican nomination for governor, said in a text message that he saw Manhart’s post, and saw that Manhart wore a “Toby Doeden for South Dakota” jacket in the post.
“I don’t really get it. I am not at all sure what he was trying to convey,” Doeden said. “Seemed like a pretty stupid use of words if you ask me.”
