Should This Guy Have Apologized?

I guess they had a bit of a kerfuffle down in Houston when a councilman and local radio host used some questionable tactics to challenge a slavery apology bill

A Houston City Council member and conservative radio host has apologized for saying taxpayers are paying large amounts of welfare to American Indians who are "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 do not 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? Okay, 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."

Captain Ed commends Mr. Berry for apologizing and recognizing the error of his ways, but wait a minute - was he all that wrong in his comparisons? Maybe in Texas and Minnesota Native Americans don't get significant benefits by virtue of the ways of the evil white men from the past, but that's not true in California. San Diego County, where I spent most of my working days, is littered with Indian casinos that are turning tiny tribes into collections of millionaires. Foxwoods in Connecticut is one of (if not) the biggest casino operation in the country and is run by the local tribe.

Can you or I open a casino? No. So don't tell me that at least some Native Americans are being granted a huge slice of the economic pie just because they belong to some little local tribe that may or may not have once ruled the area.

The councilman was wrong to make the comparison that he did in relation to slavery, and good for him for apologizing, but I'm not sure his facts were all that far off.