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Legislator Calls Out Her ‘White Male’ Colleagues For Skipping Speeches By Women Of Color

White men leave Minnesota cham­ber when black women rise to speak.
Democratic House minor­i­ty leader calls them , rather than change they asked minor­i­ty leader Rep Mellissa Hortman (D) to apol­o­gize she refused.

“I’m a white male,” state Rep. Bob Dettmer ® said. “I respect every­body. But I real­ly believe the com­ments that were made by the minor­i­ty leader were real­ly not appro­pri­ate. Minority leader, would you apol­o­gize to the body?”
I’m real­ly tired of watch­ing women of col­or, in par­tic­u­lar, being ignored. So, I’m not sor­ry. Minnesota House Minority Leader Rep. Melissa Hortman (D).

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Melissa Hortman (D), the minor­i­ty leader in the state House, was dis­ap­point­ed that more of her col­leagues weren’t in the cham­ber to hear this speech and oth­ers that had been deliv­ered by women opposed to the bill. So she moved to make them come back.

“I hate to break up the 100 per­cent white male card game in the retir­ing room, but I think this is an impor­tant debate,” she said. That com­ment deeply offend­ed some of the white men in the chamber.

“I’m a white male,” state Rep. Bob Dettmer ® said. “I respect every­body. But I real­ly believe the com­ments that were made by the minor­i­ty leader were real­ly not appro­pri­ate. Minority leader, would you apol­o­gize to the body?”  http://​www​.huff​in​g​ton​post​.com/​e​n​t​r​y​/​m​e​l​i​s​s​a​-​h​o​r​t​m​a​n​-​w​h​i​t​e​-​m​a​l​e​_​u​s​_​5​8​e​3​a​e​d​1​e​4​b​0​d​0​b​7​e​1​6​4​c​7cb?