The exact quote:
On last Wednesday's show, Belling said:
"You watch the voter turnout on the near south side, heavily Hispanic, and compare it to the voter turnout in any other election, and you're going to see every wetback and every other non-citizen out there voting."
A description of his on-air apology:
Belling apologized on the air Monday, admitting the term was "derogatory." But he couched his apology in sarcasm and bluster, later polling listeners on whether he should have apologized and saying he "should have used a different mean term."
"I deeply and profoundly apologize," Belling said in a telephone interview with a Journal Sentinel reporter conducted live Monday on Belling's afternoon show.
Later, after 15 of 20 callers said he shouldn't have apologized, Belling sarcastically called his audience "all wet."
His formal apology (after advertisers started canceling & protestors started protesting):
'I am truly sorry,' Belling says
Posted: Nov. 6, 2004
Here is the complete text of Mark Belling's statement:
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Mark Belling
Apology:"For more than 15 years, I have prided myself on working hard to effectively communicate my thoughts on important community issues in a manner that is both passionate and, at times, light-hearted. However, for the last 10 days, I have failed miserably as a communicator, and I have only myself to blame.
"Not only was my use of an ethnically derogatory term completely wrong, but my effort to apologize for this mistake was inept and insensitive.
"While my broadcasting style is free-wheeling, I cannot use that as an excuse for my terribly poor choice of words and for unintentionally trivializing a matter that is of deep concern to many.
"I want to apologize for my inappropriate language. I apologize to my listeners, and I extend a specific apology to the tens of thousands of Hispanic and Latin Americans in the metropolitan Milwaukee area for my terrible choice of words. Additionally, I apologize for the manner in which I have handled the legitimate, negative reaction to my ill-advised language. That was the wrong thing to do.
"I know that my comments have rightly angered many, and that this anger goes beyond the Hispanic community. And while I know that I have given ammunition to those who want to silence everything I say, I sincerely pledge to do my best to make sure that this one-time lapse of responsible conduct on my part will never be repeated.
"I hope that the Hispanic community, my listeners and both my supporters and detractors will accept this as a sincere and real apology and judge me going forward on my ability to never make such stupid mistakes again.
"I have learned many lessons in the past 10 days, and one of the things that I have learned is that we are all men of clay feet. I will try to grow and be a better person based on the lessons my terrible mistake has taught me. I am truly sorry."
And another apology in an interview with a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter::
In addition to his written statement, Belling sat down with a Journal Sentinel reporter Saturday.
"I knew and I know that that term is offensive," he said in measured tones, exhibiting a far more subdued persona than the blustery on-air presence. "It's clearly offensive and shouldn't be used in any context, whatever class of Hispanic immigrant that you're talking about, for two reasons.
"First of all, it completely obscured the point that I was trying to make. My goal was to try and make a strong point on voting, and no one ever heard that point because of my obnoxious language. And secondly, you just shouldn't say that."
Belling's first response to the growing controversy came on his Monday radio show, when he apologized for using the word in a discussion of possible voter fraud. He followed up by joking about the situation and polling listeners about whether he should have apologized at all. Belling continued to joke about it through Thursday's show.
"I went into my normal fall-back mode, which is bombast, sarcasm, self-effacing humor," he said Saturday. "That was moronic, it was offensive, it was stupid. It is clear to me that what I was trying to say I did not say well, since it has obviously made matters worse, and that is my fault.
"I had a full week to remedy it, and I clearly made matters worse," he said. "I'm very, very good at communicating my message exactly as I want to. And it's obvious that exactly the opposite occurred here.
"I'm not suggesting it was tactically wrong, I'm suggesting it was wrong, it was stupid."