A moment to honor Latinos and St. Patrick’s Day turned into a battle over white supremacy on the House floor Wednesday.

It started off as a vote on Senate Joint Resolution 5, which recognizes Latino Advocacy Day. The resolution stated that Latinos are a key part of Colorado’s constituency, leaders in their families and communities, as well as in elected offices throughout the country.

“The recent elections were historic in electing Latinos to positions of power in our federal, state, and local governments and in voter turnout among Latinos,” the resolution stated.

Members of the Latino/a caucus also spoke in support of the resolution, saluting past leaders, such as Rep. Polly Baca, Corky Gonzales and former state representative, Denver Mayor and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña. They embody the spirit of the Latino people, said Rep. Alex Valdez, D-Denver.

“We ask that you open the doors to our community” on how to create a better state, he added.

Following the unanimous vote on the resolution, Minority Leader Rep. Hugh McKean, R-Loveland, also pointed out that another population is deserving of recognition.

“Today is a day of immigrants,” McKean said, referring to the Irish and St. Patrick’s Day.

He noted his parents met and married in Manhattan, where he grew up, and found out that Harlem was once a neighborhood of Irish immigrants. “They dug potatoes, picked onions, made steel. Irish immigrants to this country have been much the backbone of the physical, hard-working labor force.”

That was followed by a moment of silence for the eight people, six of whom were Asian women, murdered in Atlanta Tuesday. Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, called the murders a terrorist attack and a hate crime.

“We must not turn a blind eye to the racism, the hate, the xenophobia happening in our communities, and yes, the white supremacy,” she said. “We must say ‘no more.’ “

The use of phrases like “the China virus,” including by people in the state Capitol, is akin to calling Herod the “N” word, she said.

Herod noted that some Republican lawmakers remained seated while she was talking, which she called a disappointment.

She then directed her remarks to the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities: “You are worthy of our protection” she said. “We will fight for you.”

The moment of silence did draw everyone in the chamber to their feet.

Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, whose wife is Taiwanese, said there are 200,000 AAPI in Colorado. The Asian population gets forgotten, Soper said, although they are the highest earners and the least likely to require public assistance. Yet they still tend to be targets of bias-motivated crimes, he said. He was at first skeptical but said he found that since the pandemic, newspapers all over the state have reported and escalation of violence against AAPI people.

“It’s unacceptable to treat anyone differently based on how they look,” he said.

“Hate knows no bounds,” added McKean.

Herod later apologized if anyone felt personally attacked by her words, particularly the term “white supremacy.”

It was Herod’s use of “white supremacy” that drew Republicans to the podium. “To hear those words over and over, white supremacist, it’s hard not to feel like we are being included in that,” said Rep. Dan Woog, R-Erie.

Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, R-Watkins, read a newspaper headline that said the Atlanta shooting suspect was motivated by sex addiction, not race.

“We’re at a point where we need to stop dividing our society,” he said. “I was taught that racism and discrimination was bad. It cuts to my core every time I’m called a racist or white supremacist because of the color of my skin. I didn’t ask for my color!” he shouted.

“We are all mournful for the loss,” said Speaker of the House Alec Garnett, D-Denver. “I don’t want it to continue to escalate,” bringing the discussion to a close.