- Joined
- Apr 9, 2007
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...k-woman/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b888bf36da8b
Tennessee - At a board meeting, the White country commissioner tells Black city planner " we are part of the master race " . He also points out the Black city planner having a gap in her teeth.
“I don’t want you to think I’m picking on you because we’re part of the master race. You know you got a gap in your teeth, you’re the masters. Don’t ever forget that,” Leavenworth County Commissioner Louis Klemp, who is white, told the woman, a Kansas City city planner who was making a presentation about a development project that Klemp did not seem to approve of. As Klemp spoke, he motioned toward his teeth.
Officials are calling for his resignation. In his defense though the county administrator explains that the comment is humor :
Leavenworth County Administrator Mark Loughry said that media accounts of Klemp’s comments are not accurate, and that Klemp meant to say he and the woman are part of a master race because they both have a gap in their front teeth. Loughry said Klemp has made such a reference several times in the past about people who have a gap in their teeth.
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I can understand why country officials would call for his resignation cause people now a days are less forgiving of off-color humor. BUT...taking what the country administrator says, this is just humor, not a proclamation of Nazi sentiments. The context seems that the commissioner was just joking to the City planner about people with teeth-gaps being part of the master race. Context matters. Clearly he was joking about the "master race" bit.
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There is though this comment from the commissioner in the past:
Last December, Klemp went on a meandering monologue during a discussion about the holiday schedule and mentioned historical figures that he felt should be honored. Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, was a “wonderful part of history,” he said. He also said that his great-great grandfather owned a slave and that some black people don’t support Abraham Lincoln, and he wondered whether Oprah Winfrey should have a federal holiday.
The above statement, especially the bit about the Civil War being a "wonderful part of history" is just plain bad. And that is going to turn people against him.
Tennessee - At a board meeting, the White country commissioner tells Black city planner " we are part of the master race " . He also points out the Black city planner having a gap in her teeth.
“I don’t want you to think I’m picking on you because we’re part of the master race. You know you got a gap in your teeth, you’re the masters. Don’t ever forget that,” Leavenworth County Commissioner Louis Klemp, who is white, told the woman, a Kansas City city planner who was making a presentation about a development project that Klemp did not seem to approve of. As Klemp spoke, he motioned toward his teeth.
Officials are calling for his resignation. In his defense though the county administrator explains that the comment is humor :
Leavenworth County Administrator Mark Loughry said that media accounts of Klemp’s comments are not accurate, and that Klemp meant to say he and the woman are part of a master race because they both have a gap in their front teeth. Loughry said Klemp has made such a reference several times in the past about people who have a gap in their teeth.
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I can understand why country officials would call for his resignation cause people now a days are less forgiving of off-color humor. BUT...taking what the country administrator says, this is just humor, not a proclamation of Nazi sentiments. The context seems that the commissioner was just joking to the City planner about people with teeth-gaps being part of the master race. Context matters. Clearly he was joking about the "master race" bit.
--
There is though this comment from the commissioner in the past:
Last December, Klemp went on a meandering monologue during a discussion about the holiday schedule and mentioned historical figures that he felt should be honored. Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, was a “wonderful part of history,” he said. He also said that his great-great grandfather owned a slave and that some black people don’t support Abraham Lincoln, and he wondered whether Oprah Winfrey should have a federal holiday.
The above statement, especially the bit about the Civil War being a "wonderful part of history" is just plain bad. And that is going to turn people against him.
