by Katrina Custardo
A week ago in the Minnesota House of Representatives, House Minority Leader Melissa Hortman criticized some of her male colleagues who thought playing cards was more important than listening to fellow representatives give speeches on a bill that was being debated. The bill being debated (and eventually passed) was a public-safety budget bill, which included a penalty hike on protesters.
One of the speeches was given by Ilhan Omar, the United States’ first Somali-American lawmaker. While Omar was arguing that this bill would hinder civil-rights demonstrations, Hortman noticed that some of her male colleagues were not in the room listening to Omar’s speech. Omar was one of a few women, primarily women of color, who gave speeches that were not listened to by those representatives.
After Omar’s speech, Hortman called all members back to their desks and called them out: “I hate to break up the 100 percent white male card game in the retiring room, but I think this is an important debate.”
And it gets better. Bob Dettmer, a Republican representative, tried to call Hortman out by saying, “I’m a white male. 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 applaud Hortman’s response: “Rep. Dettmer, I’m glad you asked me to yield. I have no intention of apologizing … I’m really tired of watching women of color in particular being ignored. So, I’m not sorry.”
Hortman’s response is perfect in every way: respectful, punctual, sassy, and truthful. She saw a problem, called it out in a respectful manner, and refused to apologize for something she knew she was right about.
My question goes toward those representatives who thought cards were more important than doing their jobs: Why? Why do you think you can leave when the debate over a bill is still going on? We hired you to debate and decide on bills that will affect our futures. What gives you the right to slack off? If I slack off on my job, I get reprimanded, or even worse, fired.
I am a Minnesotan, born and raised. I was lucky to be able to vote last November, and I did. To the representatives choosing to opt out of important debates, you do not deserve to have your job, one that comes with so many advantages that normal citizens such as me can only dream of having, if you do not do what we voted you in to do. I am happy that Hortman called you out for not doing your jobs, for ignoring speeches given by your equals. I am sick of hearing about lawmakers men and women at the federal and state level not doing their jobs. We gave you our vote for a reason. We want you to be successful and make change in the right direction.
Something I don’t think many representatives understand is that Americans pay for your standard of living, for your lives. The least you can do, the absolute bare minimum you can do to pay us back, is do your job.
