Houston councilman says he was wrong about American Indians

By Brenda Norrell

HOUSTON -- Houston Councilman Michael Berry, who serves as mayor pro tem, now says his radio comments which insulted American Indians were wrong. Berry says he was re-educated by American Indian responses.
Houston Natives, however, say they'll wait and see if Berry has had a true change of heart.
American Indian responses to his racist radio talk ranged from, "sounds like he needs a small pox infested blanket," to a Red Lake, Minn., reader telling him to "try talking crazy in Red Lake" and they will send him home with a Walleye shoved up his "political ass."
In his change of heart statement, Berry said he was touched by the response of Indian veterans and now understands the difference between sovereign and welfare nations.
Berry said, "I also began learning more about the lives of those who consider themselves Native Americans in modern America . Most don’t receive any governmental assistance of any kind, much less welfare. Almost none of them get any special scholarships from the government for their education. What I believed was 'governmental' assistance and scholarships is in fact tribal programs from a sovereign Indian nation. I do have two law degrees, but I lacked a good understanding of the Constitutional law on Indian treaties and Congressional action on the matter.
I was simply wrong."
Berry's racist comments might have gone unnoticed nationally, if the American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston had not asked Natives to respond. Indianz.com published an article from the information on the "Censored" blog. AP has now followed with an article.
Unfortunately, Berry's comments were not a slip of the tongue, nor can they be wiped away with a few gestures.
Berry gave voice to the racism that grows as a cancer in America.
Berry's comments came during his radio show, during a discussion of slavery and American Indians.
Berry said, "If you're against apologizing for slavery then you gotta be against giving welfare to the American Indians because of the fact that 200 years ago they were whipped in a war. And let's just call it what it is: They lost a war. Why don't we go hand the Germans a few million dollars and the Italians and the Japanese -- OK, so we did rebuild their country -- we don't continue to give them aid because they sit around whining about a war from 200 years ago. Are you kidding me? Seriously? And what's interesting is, it's one thing when we do stupid things as a government and we oppose it. Whats interesting is how many people out there believe thats a good idea -- "Oh, you gotta help the American Indians, what we did was so wrong." What'd we do? We conquered them. That's history. Hello!"

Berry's change of heart statement:
http://kprcradio.com/pages/berry.html?page=1
Regarding my recent comments on American Indians
Wednesday 04-04-2007 9:15pm
"The reason I love hosting a talk radio show is that it gives me an opportunity to share ideas that I have, and to hear from listeners from all walks of life. That exchange, sometimes confrontational, sometimes comical, often informative, and hopefully entertaining, can be magical. While I hope listeners learn from hearing my perspective, I know for sure that I learn from them.
In the course of three hours every morning, I hope that listeners will look at issues in new ways, from different angles. Often I intentionally provoke, in an effort to push listeners to challenge ideas that may be held more by habit than reason.
In so doing, I may say something to a disembodied audience of listeners that I wouldn’t say to a person in a face-to-face meeting. I want to make people react, to pierce that veil that prevents our true thoughts from surfacing. Likewise, in the fast-paced spontaneous moment that is radio, I did not consider the full effects of my words.
When I’m wrong, I’m big enough to admit it.
I received quite a few emails from listeners of American Indian descent regarding some comments I made recently. Those comments were intended to spark a discussion on how we view past transgressions against American Indians as compared to those against Blacks in America. I intended to challenge policies, and not to demean or insult any group of people.
I read every email I received on the matter, and considered each in turn. Some were threatening, some were insulting, some were angry, some simply politely disagreed. Those, I consider, come with the turf of being a talk show host. I expect that.
What bothered me was that my comments were construed as insulting and demeaning to American Indians. That was not my intention. However, I went back and re-read my comments several times, and I can see how someone might come away with that idea.
Some of the emails, though, pricked my conscience and forced me to think deeply about a number of matters. Most troubling were those I received from veterans of foreign wars who spoke of their love for our country, and their sacrifice and service to America.
I also began learning more about the lives of those who consider themselves Native Americans in modern America. Most don’t receive any governmental assistance of any kind, much less welfare. Almost none of them get any special scholarships from the government for their education. What I believed was “governmental” assistance and scholarships is in fact tribal programs from a sovereign Indian nation. I do have two law degrees, but I lacked a good understanding of the Constitutional law on Indian treaties and Congressional action on the matter.
I was simply wrong.
I’ve decided to make the occasion a learning experience for me, and hopefully others as well. I’ll have an American Indian expert guest on the show within the next week to discuss American Indians and answer questions on the matter. If I had misconceptions, perhaps others do, too.
I don’t back down from my desire to challenge others to think outside their personal prejudices, habits, misconceptions, and tired ideas. But I apply the same standard to myself as well. Here, I was wrong and I learned from it.
I’m not making this statement because I received heat from people who were offended. I can handle that. I’m making this statement because my method of framing the discussion seemed to attack people rather than policies, and my facts regarding those policies were wrong.
Finally, I don’t think that challenging policies of our shared government as they relate to any group of people is insulting to that group or any way racist or hateful. It is a healthy part of making good public policy. What is not healthy, or productive, is hateful speech toward others. I didn’t intend to engage in that, but my actions left some American Indians feeling that I did, and I should have been more careful in how I expressed myself. I regret that.
I look forward to hearing from more of you on this, and other, matters, and I’ll continue to be open to considering your opinions, as I hope you will be with mine."
Michael Berry

AP article on Berry's sudden transformation:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/
AR2007040501943.html

--AP article in Seattle Post Intelligencer
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600AP_WST_Councilman_Indian_Remark.html
Original article from the "Censored" blog, now with reader comments and links to

Berry's racist radio comments:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/03/racist-houston-mayor-insults-american.html

New article at Indianz.com:
http://www.indianz.com/