SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Utah State Senator Chris Buttars is in hot water.
Buttars is in trouble because of comments he made during a senate debate, comments which are causing an outcry in Utah's minority community.
Tuesday, Senator Buttars was speaking about an education bill he apparently took issue with.
But when he was done talking, it was Buttars who suddenly had issues to deal with. Here’s the comment from Buttars which is causing eyebrows to raise and jaws to drop:
"This baby is black…this is a dark, ugly thing." Yes, you read it right.
This is how Senator Buttars referred to a bill he didn't like the looks of.
To which Reverend France Davis of Salt Lake’s Calvary Baptist Church responded, "It perhaps comes across as racist but I think its just sheer ignorance."
And Pastor Davis isn't the only one with strong feelings about what Buttars said.
Right after Buttars remarks, another senator complained about the comments.
And it wasn't long before Buttars was asking for forgiveness.
Buttars responded, "I made a comment that I think a lot of people could take as racist. I certainly did not mean that in any way. But it was wrong and could easily be taken that way. I apologize to anyone that took offense and in no way did I mean that to be degrading in anyway. I just got my mouth a little bit ahead of my brain here."
And while Pastor Davis may believe in mankind's better angels, he also says he has heard these words before.
Rev. France Davis said, "It's certainly not the first time. Nor is it the first time that I've had the person then say they are sorry and apologize. And they want to make sure that nobody is hurt by that. I've heard that time and time again."
And because of all the controversy surrounding his remarks, Senator Buttars left the legislature early on Wednesday.
And ABC 4 News also talked to Jeanetta Williams of the local NAACP.
She says she has talked to the Senate President and if Senator Buttars makes another remark like this, her group will call for his resignation.
Late Wednesday, Williams called for Sen. Chris Buttars to resign. She recalled remarks Buttars made in August of 2006 about the landmark U-S Supreme Court decision, “Brown vs. Board of Education.”
That decision declared segregation in public schools illegal. Brown told a Logan radio station that the decision was wrong. He later backed off his initial remark, saying “there were some downsides” to the decision.
Williams now says if Buttars resigns, it will assure the problem “won’t happen again.”
