Washington state Senator JimHoneyfordof Yakima has apologized after using the term “colored” to refer to people of color.
In a statement Thursday, the Republican lawmaker said he is “deeply sorry for the hurt” he has caused. The longtime senator made the comment during a committee hearing last week. He was defending a statement he’d made a few minutes earlier about the linkage between criminal activity and poverty and race.
“Poor more likely to commit crimes and colored most likely to be poor,” he said. “I didn’t say anything else on that. And I believe that’s an accepted fact if you check any of your sociology books or anything else you’ll find that’s an accepted fact in our society.”
Honeyford said he’s a 76-year-old man who “doesn’t always use language that is appropriate in 2015.” He’s served in the Washington Senate since 1998 and represents a mostly Latino district in central Washington.
Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network
