He did. In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal on November 6th. It wasn't good enough -- you be the judge:
'I am truly sorry,' Belling says
Posted: Nov. 6, 2004
Here is the complete text of Mark Belling's statement:
"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."
