Kansas official says he's a member of 'master race,' once said Robert E. Lee was a 'wonderful part of history'
A Kansas county commissioner is in hot water, again, for comments he made on Tuesday during a board of county commissioners meeting. Leavenworth County Commissioner Louis Klemp, who has been called “racist” by fellow Commissioner Robert Holland, directed his comments to Triveece Penelton, a city planner with the Kansas City environmental consulting company Vireo.
Klemp, who was not happy with the options Penelton and a colleague presented, oddly told the black woman, “I don’t want you to think I’m picking on you because we’re part of the master race,” Klemp said, pointing at his own teeth. “You know, you got a gap in your teeth, you’re the masters. Don’t ever forget that.”
Holland told KCTV5 that Klemp should apologize for the comment. “What’s this master race?” Holland said to the outlet on Wednesday. “None of us are a master race. We are all Americans; we are all human beings.”
Holland added: “I think he is a racist. I do. I think he owes an apology to that woman. I think he owes an apology to the whole commission. And the county.”
However, Klemp told the news outlet that his comments were a joke.
Klemp was not elected to his role as commissioner. After another member resigned due to health reasons, he was appointed by the Republican committee to fill the seat.
The appointed commissioner has said questionable things in the past during meetings, including, “My great-great-grandfather had a slave.” He also praised Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate States Army, when discussing Martin Luther King Jr. Day and other holidays. “We have Robert E. Lee, who… God, Robert E. Lee, wonderful part of history,” Klemp said.
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