I talk about race and racism quite often, both in this space and in my everyday life. I recall only too well the Willie Horton ads and other blatant appeals by politicians to pander to the racists among us. I can now answer the question I put forth three months ago: yes, George Allen is a racist.
The Washington Post has an article about this as well. “Welcome to America” was what Allen told the young man, S.R. Sidarth, a 4th year student at the University of Virginia, who was born in America of Indian parents. And the Allen campaign is trying to do damage control over what Allen meant when he called the guy “Macaca.”
[Allen campaign manager Dick] Wadhams said Allen campaign staffers had begun calling Sidarth “mohawk” because of a haircut Wadhams said the Webb staffer has. “Macaca was just a variation of that,” Wadhams said.
[…]
If spelled M-a-c-a-c-a, the term refers to a species of monkeys in the Eastern Hemisphere.
[…]
The word M-a-k-a-k-a refers to a town in South Africa.
I am disappointed that someone would display this behavior. If he would do it in front of a camera, what does this guy say in private?
Allen opened his mouth among his friends and supporters and inserted his foot. Can you ever take racism out of a racist?
h/t to NLS
UPDATE: It appears that the term Allen used may have been “macaque,” which is the equvalent of the “N'” word in the US. It is a racial slur used in Tunisia. Allen’s mother is from Tunisia. Seems to me that Allen may have been using a racial slur that he figured no one would know. Ah, but then there is the internet! Check out this thread over at NLS for more details.
UPDATE #2: the above linked Washington Post story has been updated and includes an apology from Allen.
UPDATE #3: If you see a blank space above, it is because YouTube is down. Check back later.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
If this is racism (when really it is trumped up spin) then THIS must be damn near a Klansmen’s meeting.
What is this really? A sign of desperation from the Webb Camp. Trust me, this is a non-issue and you sure won’t see this on the Sunday show.
Squeaky – I do believe this is the first time that you have commented here. Welcome! And I guess you’ve taken it upon yourself to get around the blogsphere and do damage control for Allen. A racist is a racist, no matter what party they are in.
VJP–
You didn’t engage Squeaky Wheel’s point, which was that when a Democratic senator (Biden) makes a statement that can possibly be construed as racially offensive, he gets a free pass — but when a Republican Senator makes one, he’s a page A1 racist.
You note that Squeaky has not commented here before — but neither did you Post on Biden’s comment. Why the double standard?
Ergon
Actually I did. “A racist is a racist, no matter what party they are in.” Let me translate: Biden is a racist as well.
Double standard? That’s a reach. I didn’t comment on that post because, until today, I hadn’t even seen the post.
Fair enough, but I think I’ve got you on the double standard. There’s a strong tendency among Democrats and Republicans to judge a given action differently based on whether the person committing the action has a (D) or and (R) after their name. I mean, now that you’ve seen the Biden video, I doubt you’re going to write a blog post calling Biden a racist.
Incidentally, note that if you’re going to call Sen. Allen a “racist” for his remark, then there’s a whole roster of black politicians we’d also have to label racist for making similarly insensitive remarks about whites. Or is this a second double standard of yours?
I don’t argue with people who have come to my site for the first time without taking some time to read about what I have to say. Obviously, you are quite unaware that blacks cannot be racists.
I’m not “arguing,” I’m making counterpoints to a blog post of yours. That’s the whole point of having a blog with comments enabled.
I’ve read what you have to say on this topic, and I disagree with it, and I’ve said why.
Anyway, it sounds like you deny the Republican/Democratic double standard, which sounds like a phony denial, since you freely admit the black/white one. Sounds like George Allen’s not the racist here.
Biden is a racist–I agree, Vivian.
Allen is a racist as well.
What makes Allen’s offense especially egregious is that he humiliated Siddarth in a situation where his minority status was even more pronounced–the lone non-white guy in a room full of 100 white folks. This kind of bullying mentality is not what you look for in a leader. It’s pretty disgusting. Allen is finished as a national candidate. Virginia has no use for this type of bigotry either.
Vivian, you’re getting used.
When Miller was floundering, he trumped up anti-semitic charges to get his campaign going. Webb’s doing the same thing now, and you’re falling for it.
I should add that Dick Wadham’s response has not helped Allen’s cause at all. A quick apology might have helped. Wadham is spinning when he should be taking this issue seriously–especially given Allen’s history.
Having been on the receiving end of this more times than I care to count, it was this that really made me put up this post.
Insider there are a lot of non-white folks who will look at that tape and wonder what the hell was Allen thinking. There are a lot of white folks who have spent time outside of caves who will also look at that tape and wonder what the hell was Allen thinking. That type of bigotry might have been acceptable 30 years ago, but times have changed.
What part of Allen’s statement was not racist?
Yawn. Will you guys figure out a different way to turn out your base than race wars?
I doubt it, insider. The Republican Party is slowly becoming the White People’s Party, and the Democratic Party is Everyone Else. History doesn’t smile on that equation.
Ergon, the Republican Party is RAPIDLY becoming the party of uneducated, small minded bigots, and white males raised on John Wayne movies who have never fought in a war party. The Allen “Brand” will get you 25-30% at the polls right now. In another 10-20 years as the John Wayne faction dies off, maybe you’re looking at 15-20% of the population. The GOP is going to be in need of some serious rebranding.
Everyone has a degree of prejudice–it’s the awareness of that prejudice that’s important. That’s the big part of the story here. You don’t single out a member of a minority group, call him the equivalent of “sand n#gger” (which is exactly what Allen’s term means)–and then welcome him to “America”. You especially don’t do this to win a crowd over. It’s disgusting. That is not what leaders do. That’s not what America is about.
What makes this even more confounding is that Allen has presidential ambitions. India is absolutely essential to our strategic interests. For a presidential candidate not to recognize an Indian American as a human being–it sends the WRONG message to a key ally. I realize that cave dwellers may not understand this, and you’ll probably be reluctant to take my word for it. However, this is the way it is. If Allen had done this as a president it would have been an act of monumental stupidity. As it stands it still would make him a serious liability as a president. You don’t trade the approval of 100 cave dwellers for the approval of the world’s largest Democracy; a state with a nuclear capability; a buffer between radical Islam in Pakistan; and Chinese economic expansionist designs in the developing world; the largest film producing nation in the world; the home of the world’s oldest organized religion . . . As president small gestures can have profound consequences.
Who wants to be associated with a bunch of small-minded idiots? I’m sorry, once again, there’s no way to sugar coat this. Allen is an embarrasement to Virginia and an embarrasement to the United States. He can be as much of a racist on his own free time–just not as a representative of this great state and country.