ST. PAUL, Minn. _ The Democratic leader in the Minnesota state House of Representatives is not apologizing for a crack about white men during a floor speech that led at least one Republican colleague to demand on Tuesday she resign from her leadership post.
"I hate to break up the 100 percent white male card game in the retiring room, but I think this is an important debate," House Minority Leader Melissa Hortman said during a House session on Monday evening.
Hortman then praised several speeches by female colleagues, including several women of color, that some members missed as they relaxed in the lounge-style room reserved for members that's just off the House floor.
Hortman did not immediately return a call seeking further comment. The spat broke out during debate on whether protesters who block freeways or airport and transit access should face stiffer criminal penalties.
"I'm a white male. I respect everybody," Republican Rep. Bob Dettmer said after Hortman's comments. "But I really believe the comments made by the minority leader were really not appropriate. Minority leader, would you apologize to the body?"
Hortman, who is white, replied: "I have no intention of apologizing." She added that she was "really tired of watching women of color in particular being ignored. So I'm not sorry."
Dettmer countered: "All I know is that if I would have made a comment like that, it would have made the front page of the newspapers. And minority leader, I do forgive you."
Longtime Republican Rep. Greg Davids on Tuesday called Hortman's comment "racist." If she's unwilling to apologize, he said, she should resign as leader.
"Her comments were extremely offensive and divisive (and) created a hostile work environment," Davids said in an interview. "I couldn't believe she singled out a race and a sex like that."
Davids called it a breech of House protocol for Hortman to talk about "what goes on in the House retiring room." And he criticized the speeches that Hortman praised.
"First of all, the speeches weren't that good," he said. "They were amazingly repetitive and boring."
