KEWASKUM, Wis. — A car club in Washington County is causing concern over its name that some say has racist connotations, while the club's president insists there was never any ill intent.
The Kettlemoraine Klassic Kar Klub, which uses the letter "K" instead of "C" in its name and combines "Kettle Moraine" into one word caught attention when its sign was displayed during the Campbellsport 4th of July parade.
"My gosh, we're not bigots or anything like that," Kettlemoraine Klassic Kar Klub's president Richard Thiemer said. "Anybody can join."
Thiemer refers to his organization as the "K-K-K-K" and maintains that the four Ks, rather than three, distinguishes them from the racist Ku Klux Klan.
"We didn't mean any intent because it's 'Kettlemoraine Klassic Kar Klub,''' he said. "It's four Ks and why we wanted to have it stand out. That's what we wanted—to get people involved."
Watch: Car club named 'KKKK' sparks controversy in Washington County over perceived racist connotations
Some Washington County community members think the name is too similar to the "KKK" which murdered and targeted Black people and other minorities.
"I don't think that KKK or KKKK makes any difference," Linda Jonas said. “In this world right now we have enough problems with racist tones. Whatever we can do to calm that down would be something I would do.”
Thiemer acknowledged he understands why some people are upset with how the name appears on one sign, where one of the Ks is not emphasized clear enough, but said he will only consider adjusting the sign's design, not changing the club's name.
"For 50 years we had no problem and all of a sudden now we do?" he said. "Come on people, let's all grow up, be easy going on each other, a little happier and not so bitter."
Kerry Yakel, another Washington County community member, expressed a different perspective when asked if he understood why folks think the name is racist.
"Absolutely," he said. "I think we have to learn from our past. I think the 50s was one way to educate us, we realized our biases, we’re still working on it today and I think we have to continue. I think to start out an acronym with three Ks—it just came of as negative.”
Thiemer stood by the group's name and said it is not meant to be racist.
However, he admitted there are no people of color in the group, which consists mostly of white men between 60 and 90 years old who organize classic car shows and raise money for cancer research and Washington County food shelves.
"I can see now that we'll have to make that sign differently," he said. "People are getting too touchy about everything."
The group meets monthly, drives their restored cars in a number of parades and hosts one annual show. The group will host it's 50th anniversary in 2025.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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