Radio host sorry for Indian comments

A Houston city councilman and conservative talk radio host has apologized for saying taxpayers were paying large amounts of welfare to American Indians who were "whining" about having been "whipped in a war."

Michael Berry said Thursday that he posted the apology on his station's Web site the night before "not because I offended people, but because I was wrong."

"My facts were wrong, and the basis of my facts was wrong," he said.

Berry said on his KPRC-AM talk show March 27 that Indians don't deserve the "incredible" amount of federal assistance they receive.

"We conquered them," he said. "That's history."

Berry made the remarks while speaking against a proposal in the Texas Legislature for the state to apologize for slavery.

"If you're against apologizing for slavery, then you've got to be against giving welfare to the American Indians because of the fact that 200 years ago they were whipped in a war," he said.

"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."

Berry said Thursday that among the "several hundred" e-mails he had received about his remarks were several that pointed out "intellectually and politely" that American Indians did not receive a disproportionate share of federal assistance and were not singled out for scholarships and other federal programs.

"I've done my homework and learned that I was wrong," he said. "I'm big enough to admit when my facts are wrong."

Jacquelyn Battise, a member of the Coushatta and Alabama tribes and host of a Houston radio show on Indian culture, said Berry's apology "looks real, and it has the feel that he put a lot of real thought into it," but that she was surprised by it.

"It sure is quite a turnabout, an overnight transformation," she said.

"The way he spoke about it on his radio show, he sure was very passionate and very strong in his statements," Battise said. "I guess I get tired of getting hit on the head by somebody and then they say 'I'm sorry' and the apology is supposed to make everything OK."

Berry is a three-term councilman and Houston's mayor pro-tem, meaning that he fills in for certain duties when Mayor Bill White isn't available.