Anne Arundel Co. Councilman Dick Ladd Apologizes For Using Racial Slur During Open Session

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ)-- An Anne Arundel County councilman stirs up controversy after he uses a racial slur in the council's open session Thursday night.

Mike Schuh has more.

Just what does the word "gook" mean? The Merriam-Webster dictionary says its slang meaning is: "a non white or non-American person, specifically Asian."

Korean-American Lisa Hwang-Pozderac knows the word.

Schuh: "Do you find that offensive?"
Hwang-Pozderac: "Very appalling."

It's not the kind of word you'd expect to hear from a public official during an open council meeting.

Anne Arundel County Councilman Dick Ladd used it on Thursday night.

Ladd hopes people will see the context of what he said Thursday night and how it came to pass.

Council members were interviewing candidates for a vacant seat on the council.

The candidate was also a former military man who shared similar military experiences near Korea's demilitarized zone. The conversation between Ladd and the candidate turned to what amounts to shop talk and a particularly tense time on the border.

"In steel pots, webbing and flack jackets because we thought the gooks were coming over the perimeter..." Ladd said during the meeting.

Eyewitnesses say there were gasps in the room and a short time later, someone whispered to Ladd that his comment was up on the Internet. So he asked the chairman for a moment to speak.

"I decided that I knew that I needed to apologize if I offended anyone and it was not offered in any sense to be derogatory or to impugn anybody," Ladd said.

It is a word, he says, was commonly used by the military in Vietnam and Korea to describe enemy soldiers. When asked if he'd use the same description today, he said no.

"I try to watch my words, but sometimes when trying to watch your words, I don't communicate efficiently and effectively. That's me. So I am who I am. I say what I think. I try to do it as carefully as I can, but sometimes, clearly I don't," Ladd said.

Ladd has two and a half years left on his term and plans to run for re-election.