Powerful Words

As I mentioned yesterday in The Power of Words, some people like Santorum (i.e. Republicans) use words to belittle or humiliate others. As a follow up to that post, I wanted to mention Virginia Senator George Allen, who has done just that -- with a little extra racist twist, as part of his reelection campaign. (It's sort of like adding a twist of lime to your martini -- it just adds a bit of extra flavor to the speech.)

In Allen Quip Provokes Outrage, Apology, the Washington Post explains:

At a campaign rally in southwest Virginia on Friday, Allen repeatedly called a volunteer for Democrat James Webb "macaca." During the speech in Breaks, near the Kentucky border, Allen began by saying that he was "going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas" and then pointed at S.R. Sidarth in the crowd.

"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great," Allen said, as his supporters began to laugh. After saying that Webb was raising money in California with a "bunch of Hollywood movie moguls," Allen said, "Let's give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." Allen then began talking about the "war on terror."

Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs.

"The kid has a name," Webb communications director Kristian Denny Todd said of Sidarth, a Virginia native who was born in Fairfax County. "This is trying to demean him, to minimize him as a person."

Todd added that the use of macaca, whatever it means, and the reference welcoming Sidarth to America were clearly intended to make him uncomfortable.

When pressed about the incident, Allen responded with a non-apology, apology. You know -- it was misinterpreted, I didn't mean to insult him, it was directed at my opponent, Webb, so it's his fault, etc. For the correct interpretation of the "apology," see this Daily Koss post, Keep Talking, George Felix Allen Junior! Please!.

However, the best line by far is the response by Allen, when asked what macaca means: "I don't know what it means."

Right. I'm sure he always makes up gibberish words as part of his campaign strategy. I bet he does the same on the floor of the Senate.

Yet if you watch the video of his remarks, you can see that there was no "mistake" in the choice of words Allen was using, see, The Situation Room covers George Allen’s racist “Macaca” remarks. And, this Daily Kos post will give you some definitions of the word (note, all options are racist -- and the definitions are offensive).

And, if you're inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, remember that this is the same George Allen that, as The Richmond Times Dispatch reported:

When he ran for the Senate in 2000, foes accused Allen of insensitivity to blacks. Newspaper stories reported he had displayed a noose in his former law office and had kept a Confederate flag in his home in Albemarle County.

The real George Allen is described in this Editorial in the Washington Post, George Allen's America:

"MY FRIENDS, we're going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas," Sen. George F. Allen told a rally of Republican supporters in Southwest Virginia last week. "And it's important that we motivate and inspire people for something."

* * * *

Let's consider which positive, constructive or inspirational ideas Mr. Allen had in mind when he chose to mock S.R. Sidarth of Dunn Loring, who was recording the event with a video camera on behalf of James Webb, the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat Mr. Allen holds. The idea that holding up minorities to public scorn in front of an all-white crowd will elicit chortles and guffaws? (It did.) The idea that a candidate for public office can say "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia!" to an American of Indian descent and really mean nothing offensive by it? (So insisted Mr. Allen's aides.) Or perhaps the idea that bullying your opponents and calling them strange names -- Mr. Allen twice referred to Mr. Sidarth as "Macaca" -- is within the bounds of decency on the campaign trail?

We have no inkling as to what Mr. Allen meant by "Macaca," though we rather doubt his campaign's imaginative explanation that it was somehow an allusion to Mr. Sidarth's hairstyle, a mullet. Mr. Allen said last night that no slur was intended, though he failed to explain what, exactly, he did have in mind. Macaca is the genus for macaques, a type of monkey found mainly in Asia. Mr. Allen, who as a young man had a fondness for Confederate flags and later staunchly opposed a state holiday in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has surely learned too much about racial sensitivities in public life to misspeak so offensively.

See also, Slate's Once a Boob, Always a Boob? and Eschaton.

And last but not least, I knew if I waited long enough to post this, Jon Stewart (along with Rob Cordry) would give us the real Macaca, Senator George Allen (R) (Asshole). In posting the Daily Show video, Blogger Onegoodmove asks the question, "Is Macaca racist or is it just the mindless banter of an asshole. Will this hurt George Allen in the Virginia election or like Cordry asked, is that kind of behavior still a plus in his part of the south."

For the Wonkette wordview, see A Big Pile Of Macaca (my vote is that he meant it as “Hakuna Matata” -- don't worry, be happy).

Tags: Daily Show, Jon Stewart, Politics, Video, George Allen, Macaca, Racism