If you don’t call out racism then you’re all but condoning it

(Update: Since this editorial’s publication, Louis Klemp has resigned from the Leavenworth County Commission.)

Just to be clear, there is no “master race.”

And to presume otherwise is an affront to the Master Creator.

But oh my, some people are thick, as with Leavenworth County Commissioner Louis Klemp who lectured an African American city planner last week about their inherent “differences.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m picking on you, because, we’re part of the master race,” Klemp told Ms. Triveece Penelton, in rejecting her land use proposal for a corridor south of Tonganoxie.

Penelton, a University of Kansas graduate with more than 16 years’ experience, works for the Kansas City-based firm of Vireo.

But we’ll not.

Klemp is a Neanderthal for not only slandering Ms. Penelton but for also glorifying slavery, memorializing Confederate leaders, promoting the Nazi ideology of Aryan supremacy, and degrading African Americans in other public appearances.

Despite demands from Gov. Jeff Colyer and fellow commissioners for his resignation, Klemp has not budged.

So he should be booted. Forthwith.

RACISM AFFECTS all of us by plunging us into a climate of vitriolic hate.

And no, this is isn’t about being politically correct or elitist. We’re not “snowflakes” who can’t stand a “little joke,” as Klemp defends himself.

Instead, this is about calling out racism because to do otherwise, to say nothing, sends a message of consent.

And that’s a terrifying prospect.

— Susan Lynn