Q: What is a "Macaca" and should we fear it?

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Our next president?

See this man? You should become familiar with him. Many pundits think that he has a pretty decent shot at becoming the next President of the United States. Even though McCain of Arizona seems to be more popular, Allen, currently a Republican senator from the state of Virginia, is more popular with the base of the Republican party and his ambitions are well known. The first thing he has to do however, is hold out against upstart Democrat James Webb who wants to strip Allen of his senate seat.

Today’s Washington Post has an interesting article (thanks for the tip Sanjivani) about Allen’s remarks to a young staffer that Webb had hired to shadow the Allen campaign:

Democrat James Webb’s Senate campaign accused Sen. George Allen (R) of making demeaning comments Friday to a 20-year-old Webb volunteer of Indian descent.

S.R. Sidarth, a senior at the University of Virginia, had been trailing Allen with a video camera to document his travels and speeches for the Webb campaign. During a campaign speech Friday in Breaks, Virginia, near the Kentucky border, Allen singled out Sidarth and called him a word that sounded like “Macaca.”

“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. We’re going to places all over Virginia, and he’s having it on film and its great to have you here and you show it to your opponent because he’s never been there and probably will never come.”

After telling the crowd that Webb was raising money in California with a “bunch of Hollywood movie moguls,” Allen again referenced Sidarth, who was born and raised in Fairfax County.

“Lets give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia,” said Allen, who then began talking about the “war on terror…” [Link]

So seriously. What is a “Macaca?” This could hurt me if I ever make it to Jeopardy and I don’t know that answer.

Wadhams [Allen’s campaign manager] 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. [Link]

Good to know. Will one of you readers please add that definition to the Urban Dictionary? The etymological debate raged on though:

Depending on how you spell it, the name Allen gave Sidarth means different things.

If spelled M-a-c-a-c-a, the term refers to a species of monkeys in the Eastern Hemisphere. “Is he saying Sidarth is a monkey?” Todd [Webb’s spokesperson] asked.

The word M-a-k-a-k-a refers to a town in South Africa. [Link]

<

p>Watch the clip yourself:

I say that South Asian Americans should begin calling each other “Macaca.” Like, “What up Macaca?” Let’s take this word and make it our own, thereby taking power away from the current establishment. Then we can beat the crap of any non-South Asians that use it, especially if they look like they either work for the MAN or might actually be the MAN.

182 thoughts on “Q: What is a "Macaca" and should we fear it?”

  2. In addition to the Washington Post, let’s see if more of the mainstream media picks this story up. I hope the bloggers run with this aggressively. A video is already on YouTube with Allen clearly saying “macaca” twice. Allen’s camp is awkwardly defending his statement with some lame excuse which should be discarded just like George Allen should be discarded as a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate. A potential presidential candidate called an Indian American a fricken “monkey”. That’s just not right.

  4. As siddhartha (#48) states, this is a racial slur. Checking around the internet a little more about this, apparently many African-Americans and people somehow linked to France know that this is a common derogatory term for North Africans by the French and Belgians. Morover, the fact that Allen’s campaign actually tried to switch it around and bring light on the fact that Webb had used a questionably anti-Semitic ad (which he later pulled) in the primaries and Allen’s record on race, makes it all the more obvious that he was taking a swipe at Sidarth’s brown-ness (he has confirmed he was the only non-white in the crowd of ~100). The Daily Kos is going crazy over this, one guy dared Allen to come to Detroit and use the term. I think the South Asian community needs to stand up to this crap too. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but aren’t there a lot of South Asians in the IT sector in Northern Virginia who have started becoming big political contributors?

  5. May be he meant to say “macha” as some Tams do, or “achacha” as the Mallus do… put together machacha?!!

  6. I’m a Canuck – can’t find this on CNN or MSNBC – does this sort of thing make national news in the US?? Why isn’t this guy being lynched on front page news? Because if some big Liberal in Canada called anyone dark-skinned ‘Macaca’ the shit would hit the fan.

  7. Je suis là!

    LOL! Siddhartha, that was so awesome! I just head a beautiful vision of Siddhartha sweeping in, mustachioed with cape sweeping in after him, declaring that in the most outrageous French accent. Okay, I’m sold!

  9. Yeah, bout time. Where yacaca been all day?

    macaca, please! i actually have to work for money from time to time, unlike certain cosseted academics i know…

  11. saheli and anna, thanks for the explanation. i assumed it had something to do with the history of race/ethnicity in this country but am not as well informed on that subject.

  12. Macaca definitely means monkey in Brazil. During a visit to the amazon rainforest couple of years ago, i remember my dear guide introducing me to many diff. species of macacas. Portuguese word for monkey is macaco.

    Sen. Allen is doing couple of speeches in next couple of weeks in NOVA technology corridor (on net neutrality etc.). I am sure he is going to see lot of “macacas” in the crowd.

  13. Mon frère,

    On dit premier gaou nÂ’est pas macaque, cÂ’est deuxième macaque qui est gnata…

  14. On dit premier macaque nÂ’est pas macaque, cÂ’est deuxième macaque qui est gnata…

    (it’s not as funny with the typo…)

  16. Qu’est-ce que c’est “gnata”?

    Lord Siddhartha, master of International Francophonetics, can best explain that…

    but, roughly speaking, “the first macaca ain’t the real macaca, it’s the second macaca that’s in trouble…”

    (In this example, S. R. Sidarth is the first macaca, no harm done. Allen is the second…)

  17. “Lets give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia,”

    I watched the UTube video of this from Turbunhead’s blog. And it really seemed like the senator was not talking about the desi guy. He was saying how his opponent is hanging out w/ “Hollywood moguls” and not with the “real world of Virginians”. Then he introduced “macaca”. He was going back and forth between dissing on his opponent and introducing Siddarth. And it got mushed together somehow.

  19. Well, I certainly think it would have made the Wash Post article stronger, in terms of showing that Allen probably knew what he was talking about, if the whole angle of his mother being from Tunisia, etc., was brought up along with the fact that it is a North African slur as has been shown in several of the links above.

  20. If he calls Senator McCain’s daughter his “illegitimate macaca child” no one will know what the hell he is talking about.

    Mini, you underestimate the man. All he has to do is bust out a Confederate flag on the sly at a convenient moment and all will be purrrrr-fectly clear.

  23. since the fall of carthage, and especially since the captivity of african people under european rule, there has been an attempt to liken people of african descent to monkeys. this has manifested itself in the ugliest of ways, and has justified centuries of cruelty, torture, murder, rape, and practically every horror imaginable. there have even been examples, such as Sarah Baartman, where europeans actually tried to use her “orangutan-like” features to prove the connection between africans and monkeys by displaying and exploiting her all over europe and keeping her vagina in a jar for nearly a century. there was also Ota Benga, an african who committed suicide after being put on display in the monkey house in the bronx zoo. the macaca is indigenous to south east asia, which makes it seem like he was referring to all south east asians, and was letting the rest of the (all white) crowd know that he felt that way. people seem to very easily forget that we are all animals that achieve godliness through acts of creativity. if we don’t become better aquainted with love, joy, truth, respect and compassion, then we shall be consumed by our own hatred, prejudice, and lack of understanding. thank you guys very much for setting up this website and offering alternative perspectives. have a beautiful day! namaste

  24. To my ‘average white guy’ impression, I thought Allen was calling the guy a monkey. What a clown. He won’t survive the primaries.

  25. Duhh! Dohh! No one gets it. Allen’s Tamizh speech writer spelt it wrong. It shd’a been Macchan used as dude in Tamizh although it actually means brother-in-law. Instead the transcriber spelt it Macachan.

  26. From yesterday’s WaPo article:

    Asked what macaca means, Allen said: “I don’t know what it means.” He said the word sounds similar to “mohawk,” a term that his campaign staff had nicknamed Sidarth because of his haircut. Sidarth said his hairstyle is a mullet — tight on top, long in the back.

    One gangsta-ass macaca…

  27. Interesting that Allen apologizes for a statement that he had earlier in the day said he had no reason to apologize for.

    Allen’s actual “apology”:

    “I would never want to demean him as an individual. I do apologize if he’s offended by that. That was no way the point.” * * * Asked what macaca means, Allen said: “I don’t know what it means.” He said the word sounds similar to “mohawk,” a term that his campaign staff had nicknamed Sidarth because of his haircut.

    Um, right.

    Time for a Sepia snap poll! Biden v. Allen in 2008 — on this issue alone, leaving ideology and all other issues to one side, who would people vote for? which mysterious statement loses the insensitivity derby? (Vote here for the candidate whose statement you find LESS objectionable.) Results decidedly unscientific.

    (Speaking of which, has anyone heard from Dr. Vijay on the Allen gaffe?)

  28. Eric, It is doubtful he would survive the presidential primaries, but it’s possible since he appeals to the Republican base, unlike McCain and Guilianai. However, as a resident of Virginia, even six more years in the Senate would be too much. I don’t make much money, but this is probably going to motivate me to donate to the Webb campaign. The Northern Virginia (DC metropolitan) area is one of the most multicultural in the country, and we deserve better representation.

  29. What the fg F? That is so disappointing. Dan it.. makes me remember one of the main reasons I used to be a liberal. What an eing moron. It’s not only the macaca.. it’s the “welcome to the real america”. What a mofo. What is wrong with these re*rds? So far, we have Hillary, Joe Biden, and now George Allen (his remark being the worst)…vomit. What in the h*ll is wrong with these people?

  30. The story ran on page one of the WaPost and there was an editorial. Good for them giving it the coverage it deserves. Here’s the editorial.

    George Allen’s America Whom it includes, and whom it doesn’t

    Tuesday, August 15, 2006; A12

    “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.” Whereupon Mr. Allen turned his attention to a young campaign aide working for his Democratic opponent — a University of Virginia student from Fairfax County who was apparently the only person of color present — and proceeded to ridicule him.

    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.

    Mr. Sidarth, who is 20, is a senior at U-Va.; he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax after compiling an excellent academic record. He is thinking of applying to law school. He may be forgiven if his week-long foray on the campaign trail with Mr. Allen has left him with a bitter taste. “I think he was doing it because he could, and I was the person of color there and it was useful for him in inciting his audience,” Mr. Sidarth told us. “I’m disgusted he would use my race in a political context.”

    We don’t blame him for feeling that way. But really, by mocking Mr. Sidarth, Sen. George F. Allen demeaned only himself.

  31. I would never want to demean him as an individual. I do apologize if he’s offended by that. That was no way the point.

    That’s not an apology. That’s a “sorry that you’re so hypersensitive at me calling you a monkey and welcoming you to America when you’re just as much an American as I am and insinuating something nefarious when you’re following me around the campaign trail even though I know you work for my opponent.”

  33. Makak (Belgium & the Netherlands) a Moroccan; derived from macaque
    Whoopsie. I guarantee that the quote above, taken from a list of ethnic slurs, will start showing up in the mainstream media and torpedo Allen’s run. Ah. I’ve always wanted to change the course of history…

    Listen, I don’t know what site you got THAT from, but I’ve never in my life even heard of that term as an ‘ethnic slur’, and I’ve lived here for 14 years and naturalised and all that jazz. Makak in Dutch means ‘macaque’, a kind of monkey; I have never heard it used against certain ethnic groups.

  34. Just to add, I agree with the comments above it’s probably French and/or Belgian. Dutch and Belgian are two very different things. 🙂

    Uh and yeah, the guy is a douchebag, goes without saying.

  35. the guy is a douchebag, goes without saying

    Meena, you mean you’re not looking forward to a confederate flag on the top of Air Force One? A flying “General Lee“?

  36. Sidarth said his hairstyle is a mullet — tight on top, long in the back.

    Poor kid goes above and beyond the call of duty to fit in among the rednecks, and he still gets picked on.

  38. Mr. Sidarth’s hairstyle, a mullet

    sheayh right they thought he had a mowhawk! a shorty longback, camaro cut, tennessee tophat or even a canadian passport, yes. but a mowhawk? what an embarassing excuse.

    peace out, macmocs.

  39. Makak in Dutch means ‘macaque’, a kind of monkey; I have never heard it used against certain ethnic groups.

    Meena, a spook is a ghostly apparition. But just because I’d never heard it used as a slur (until I read “The Human Stain”: what are they, spooks?) doesn’t mean it’s not a slur. Perhaps makak has been supplanted by newer, hipper ways of saying that non-whites are non-human.

    As for this notion of the Belgians not being Dutch, I personally don’t recognize any post-1558 borders. 🙂

  40. The nail in the coffin for me that got me pissed is the way he said “Welcome to America”. Not only does that imply that Siddarth was somehow not an authentic American because of his brown skin, but also Allen’s opponent who was in Hollywood, California is somehow not in touch with “real Americans”. As a Californian, I get pissed when somke redneck says that California isn’t really part of “the real America” because of things like a large non-white or gay population and out tendancy to not lynch them. Or stricter air quality standards.
    I keep asking myself if it would have been worse if Allen refered to Siddarth as “Apu”, “Hadji”, or “Kumar”; names dragged out from pop culture and most likley the only Indian male names a Johnny Six-Pack would know.
    Shoot, why pick on the cameraman in the first place? Isn’t that just tacky for a politician who is being followed by cameras anyway? I’m told that it’s common for cameras to follow politicans whether it’s from their opponents, allies, the media, or freelancers.

  41. You know, Jumper, people who wear their hair in mohawks tend not to be originally from America — mohawks tend to be more common among those immigrants. In fact, I don’t think the term “Mohawk” is native to North America at all.

    Clearly, you haven’t been watching enough Lou Dobbs.

  42. in south india they say Maccha a lot. Not sure of the word’s genesis .. but its used like “whats up machcha?” “everything OK machcha?”

    so maybe this dude’s just south-india aware?!

  43. In fact, I don’t think the term “Mohawk” is native to North America at all.

    Dictionary.com defines mohawk as “a Native American people formerly inhabiting northeast New York along the Mohawk and upper Hudson valleys north to the St. Lawrence River; a member of this people; the Iroquoian language of the Mohawk.” So isn’t the term “Mohawk” as native to North America as you can get?

  45. Allen might want to take a few pointers from this on how to deliver a non-slanderous political smear speech:

    My fellow citizens, it is an honor and a pleasure to be here today. My opponent has openly admitted he feels an affinity toward your city, but I happen to like this area. It might be a salubrious place to him, but to me it is one of the nation’s most delightful garden spots. …. His wife was a thespian before their marriage and even performed the act in front of paying customers. Link

  46. Since when did I mention anything about Mohawks or anything about hair AK? I concur with Sanpa that Mohawk did indded as a hairstyle and term originate with the North American tribe.

    PS: I don’t watch Lou Dobbs because I don’t have cable. I think St. Patrick’s Day is cool and he should leave it alone. I agree with him about outsourcing American jobs and there are more important things than “protecting” marriage from gays. I do not see eye to eye with him on other issues.

  47. George Allen is still probably gonna win in Virginia because all his constituents are his cousins 😉

  48. Anna,

    His mother, Henrietta Lumbroso, was a Jewish immigrant of Tunisian/Italian/French background.
    Apparently, it’s French/Belgian slang…

    Not slang sister, definitely a slur. I first heard the word ‘macaca’ during the recent world cup. It’s what racist french called Zizou! I will never buy that a guy with HIS HISTORY, and who was raised by a French Tunisian mother, really didn’t know what a ‘makaka’ was. I am particularly fond of macaques and young Indian boys volunteering for the Democratic Party. To insult them both in one speech…! George Allen, You are going down you Bastard!

  49. Sorry, subscription problem while viewing ‘his history’.

    Here’s the relevant part of the New Republic Article, George Allen’s race problem:

    But, while Allen may have genuflected in the direction of Gingrich, he also showed a touch of Strom Thurmond. Campaigning for governor in 1993, he admitted to prominently displaying a Confederate flag in his living room. He said it was part of a flag collection–and had been removed at the start of his gubernatorial bid. When it was learned that he kept a noose hanging on a ficus tree in his law office, he said it was part of a Western memorabilia collection. These explanations may be sincere. But, as a chief executive, he also compiled a controversial record on race. In 1994, he said he would accept an honorary membership at a Richmond social club with a well-known history of discrimination–an invitation that the three previous governors had refused. After an outcry, Allen rejected the offer. He replaced the only black member of the University of Virginia (UVA) Board of Visitors with a white one. He issued a proclamation drafted by the Sons of Confederate Veterans declaring April Confederate History and Heritage Month. The text celebrated Dixie’s “four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights.” There was no mention of slavery. After some of the early flaps, a headline in The Washington Post read, “governor seen leading va. back in time.”
    Allen has described those early years as a learning experience. Indeed, he sanded off the rough edges and began molding himself to the Bush era, when conservatives began abandoning the crudeness of their old Southern strategy. During the second half of his gubernatorial term, Allen began positioning himself as the next cool thing in Republican politics, a governor more interested in results than partisanship. Indeed, at the Stafford Airport stump speech, there are no confederate flags or coded racial appeals. Instead, Allen talks about energy independence and the competitive challenge from rising economies like China’s and India’s. If it weren’t for some of the rhetoric about “tax commissars,” one might mistake Allen’s stump speech for a Tom Friedman column.

  50. His Wikipedia entry paints him as a strange and scary man. I have a pretty strong feeling that this guy is probably a serial killer or sociopath, after reading what he did to his sister and brother. Chilling!

    People like him make all the whiteys look really stupid. Now I won’t be able to help but look at someone in the Virginia boondocks and think, Wow, you’re just really, really stupid, aren’t you? But, unlike Allen, I know that that isn’t the right thing to think and I should be a kinder, more understanding person.