Image Source: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Kathy Reesey, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
What Was the Accusation?
Actor and former rapper Mark Wahlberg has faced recurring criticism over racially motivated harassment and violence he committed as a teenager in Boston. In 1986, when Wahlberg was 15, he participated in the harassment of Black schoolchildren, including an incident in which children on a field trip were chased while rocks and racial epithets were directed at them. The conduct resulted in a civil rights injunction against Wahlberg and other youths. Two years later, while still subject to that injunction, Wahlberg assaulted two Vietnamese men during an episode in Dorchester. Court records described Wahlberg using racist language during the incident. He was convicted of offenses including assault and battery and criminal contempt and served 45 days in jail.
Wahlberg publicly apologized in 1993, acknowledging both the harassment of the Black students and the assaults on the Vietnamese men and expressing remorse for his actions. The controversy resurfaced prominently in 2014 when Wahlberg petitioned Massachusetts for a pardon for his 1988 convictions. His application emphasized his rehabilitation, charitable work and efforts to help at-risk young people. The request produced disagreement among people affected by his earlier conduct. Johnny Trinh, one of the Vietnamese men Wahlberg assaulted, publicly forgave him and supported a pardon. Kristyn Atwood, who had been among the Black children harassed in 1986, opposed one.
Wahlberg later said that the pardon process led him to meet Trinh and apologize personally, but he came to regret seeking formal clemency. He has continued to characterize his teenage conduct as serious wrongdoing for which he paid a substantial personal price and has presented his subsequent life as evidence of rehabilitation. In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, Wahlberg acknowledged making “a lot of terrible mistakes,” emphasized that he had taken responsibility for changing his life, and argued that people should have an opportunity for redemption and a second chance.
Key Apologia Strategies
Mortification, Corrective Action, Defeasibility
Video
N/A
Transcript
Mark Wahlberg’s February 19, 1993 Public Apology:
“In 1986 I harassed a group of school kids on a field trip, many of them African-American. And in 1988, I assaulted two Vietnamese men over a case of beer. I used racist language during these encounters and people were seriously hurt by what I did.”
“I am truly sorry. I was a teenager and intoxicated when I did these things. But that’s no excuse.”
“I know there are kids out there doing the same stuff now and I just want to tell them, don’t do it”
“I want to make it clear that I condemn anti-gay hatred and violence”
