Allen and the N-word

Local, National, Norfolk, Politics, Virginia 1 Minute

A rumor has been circulating around the blogsphere for a while that Republican Senator George Allen used the N-word while in college. Now Salon has evidence that this is so.

Three former college football teammates of Sen. George Allen say that the Virginia Republican repeatedly used an inflammatory racial epithet and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks during the early 1970s.

“Allen said he came to Virginia because he wanted to play football in a place where ‘blacks knew their place,'” said Dr. Ken Shelton, a white radiologist in North Carolina who played tight end for the University of Virginia football team when Allen was quarterback. “He used the N-word on a regular basis back then.”

A second white teammate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared retribution from the Allen campaign, separately claimed that Allen used the word “nigger” to describe blacks. “It was so common with George when he was among his white friends. This is the terminology he used,” the teammate said.

A third white teammate contacted separately, who also spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of being attacked by the Virginia senator, said he too remembers Allen using the word “nigger,” though he said he could not recall a specific conversation in which Allen used the term. “My impression of him was that he was a racist,” the third teammate said.

The wheels on the Allen re-election campaign bus seem to be falling off. First there was last May’s article from The New Republic. Then there was Breaks – and the m-word. Last week, there was the “aspersions” comment and subsequent admittance by Allen that he has Jewish heritage but still eats ham sandwiches and his mother makes good pork chops.

The senate race was supposed to be a cakewalk, a warmup for his presidential run in 2008. Allen’s problem with foot-in-mouth disease has resulted in even conservatives abandoning him. Now this.

Is this the last straw?

Wonder what Benny Lambert is thinking about his endorsement now?

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14 thoughts on “Allen and the N-word”

  1. You know my views on the Lambert business, Vivian. I think that Lambert may be wondering if what he did was really worth it. Will he pull his support. I don’t know. But he should.

    As for being the last straw, it all depends on how big this gets. But one thing is for sure: Virginia is no longer Pregnant with Twin Presidents. Now, Mark Warner is an only child.

  2. I lived in Morocco for two years and while there learned that the gutter translation of “macaca” was “sand ni@@er”. It’s an unusual word for someone to come up with off the top of their head – much less claimed to have invented! Now that he is now documented using the “N” word attempt to claim credit for inventing the word “macaca”. Now he’s not only stolen another Senator’s bill, but he’s takeing credit for inventing an already known racial slur in a foreign language… Are we starting to see a pattern here? Wonder what other words he’s “invented” while driving and thinking on his lawnmower? He’s no more “presidential material” than the current occupant. Next thing Allen will be saying is that “I’m a uniter – not a divider”!

  4. DB – Lambert won’t pull his endorsement. He can’t, for a whole lot of reasons.

    BS – This one is going to be tough to get around

    Insider – I tried – really I did. But I got 3 emails last night on this. What am I supposed to do – ignore it? That would make me more like Lambert. I am not Benny Lambert.

  5. That’s like Bill Clinton running for a year on a middle class tax cut, and after 3 weeks in office saying “i tried, i really tried.”

    3 emails are enough for your to go back on your own “only issues” pledge? C’mon….

  9. Word, Sean.

    Insider, I can understand being frustrated here. But Webbies don’t have to talk about Webb, because Allen is making him look like a Saint in comparison. Who do you want in the Senate: a man who shielded a fellow soldier from a frag grenade with his body, or a guy who shoves deer heads in mailboxes?

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