Three White female students from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), identified as Alaina Kunes, Lauren Mayfield, and Sara Whitehead, have gone viral for making racist gestures outside of Black classmate Jakiyra Metcalf’s apartment.In the video circulating online, two women were seen acting out monkey gestures and making monkey noises, while the third one stood laughing. Their actions were caught on a Ring camera.Not much is known about Lauren Mayfield and Sara Whitehead. However, social media users have pointed out that Alaina Kunes is allegedly connected to the Kunes family, who owns the Wisconsin dealership chain Kunes Auto Group, a company with its own history of racial discrimination controversies.While Kunes Auto Group hasn't directly addressed whether the student is related to the family, the company released a statement denying any business ties. In a social media statement obtained by Fox6, Kunes Auto Group noted:“The individual in the video has no employment, ownership, or professional affiliation with Kunes Auto Group. We do not comment on private citizens unaffiliated with the company. Our organization is built on treating every person with dignity and respect, and we do our best to live out those values every day.”The University of Mississippi also released a statement saying:“The behavior depicted in this video is deeply troubling, hurtful, and unacceptable. We condemn the behavior as it does not reflect our university's values or the kind of community we strive to be every day.”Ole Miss authorities are investigating the matter. Meanwhile, social media is calling for their expulsion and the viral video has drawn outrage and scrutiny.More about Alaina Kunes and Kunes Auto Group at the center of racism controversyAccording to social media, Alaina Kunes is allegedly the daughter of Scott Kunes, the former COO of Kunes Auto Group. Alaina Kunes’ grandfather Gregg Kunes reportedly founded the auto dealership in 1996 and the business remains family owned.Earlier this year in March 2026, a Black woman named Carolyn Word purchased four cars from Kunes Auto Group and faced racism. She told Fox6 that a Kunes Auto Group salesman at the dealership in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, texted her a GIF of an ape in a bikini.“I don’t want to be a bother if you’re not interested in a car; we just got an inquiry from you telling us you were interested. Should I take you off the list?” the message from the salesman read, following the inappropriate GIF.When Ms. Word asked, “Is that your mother dancing?” the Kunes Auto Group employee replied, “Haha… I thought I was going to have my first time selling a car to a bear.”Carolyn Word told Fox6 that the experience was “humiliating.” She added:“It felt like a blast from the past growing up in Mississippi; I never thought this would happen. I was just humiliated… You send a customer, a good customer at that, a text message with, well, an ape on it. It’s definitely racial. It just made me feel terrible that someone would portray me as an ape. I would never go back.”About the recent incident involving Alaina Kunes, Carolyn further noted:“Relive the prejudice, the racism, how the country hasn't grown from all the way back in the 50s and 60s; it's 2026 and the country really hasn't grown in that aspect.”Her attorney, William Sulton, told the outlet that a current employee of the auto dealership identified Alaina Kunes as a member of the dealership's founding family.“This is coming from a current employee who has worked at Kunes for years, who knows the family very well, who knows the young person,” Sulton stated.The civil lawyer also represents another biracial woman named Makayla Starks who was racially profiled by Kunes Auto Group. In 2025, Starks went for an oil change at an Oak Creek store in Wisconsin. According to Sulton, his client received an oil sticker with the company’s logo, with the N-word printed on it and an instruction to “drive safely.”“I think people are right to draw this connection; this is racist behavior. This isn't just a family issue because of the nature of the misconduct here, but they should come out, do the right thing, and say, ‘Hey, my daughter made a mistake. We don't believe in this and we're going to do something about it,’” Sulton added.Ms. Starks told local CNN affiliate WISN in February 2025 that she bought an SUV from the company in October 2024 and went for a free oil change in January. After the appointment, the dealership contacted her, claiming they left a tool behind and needed to retrieve it, which she believed was an attempt to recover the racist sticker.“My sense of safety was definitely compromised. So they sent the employee who did this directly to my home address that same day… When I saw the sticker with the racial slur, I cried. I just felt very heartbroken… They have not contacted me since then, since we've been in the media. They keep putting Facebook posts or posts on TikTok saying how sorry they are and how this doesn't line up with their values,” Starks explained.She sought unspecified compensation and demanded that Kunes Auto Group implement anti-discrimination training for all employees. Additionally, Makayla claimed full accountability from the dealership by disciplining or firing the employee responsible.Back then, Kunes Auto Group told WISN that the behavior went against the company’s policies and values and that there was no place for racism in the workplace. It also claimed to be conducting an internal investigation.Now, William Sulton is claiming that the two previous incidents, along with the latest Alaina Kunes incident, showcase a “pattern of racism” tied to the Kunes name. Meanwhile, Carolyn Word reacted to Kunes Auto Group’s statement by saying:“My thought is that it is untrue, because if that were true, those incidents wouldn't have happened.”During the Carolyn Word incident, her lawyer claimed there was initially no apology or follow-through for the “racist conduct” and that the misbehavior was based on a lack of proper training. However, Kunes Auto Group told TMJ4 that the salesman was terminated following an internal review that concluded that it was a “disgusting act.”Alaina Kunes and her friends have yet to directly respond to the controversy.