On Sunday Salon.com published a very provocative article about Sen. George Allen of “Macaca” fame (thanks for the tip Subodh and “Sparky“). To those people who have been defending him, including members of the Indian American Republican Council (IARC) and some Indian American business men in Virginia, I am sure this story will be of interest:
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. [Link]
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p>Here is one more tidbit:
Shelton said he also remembers a disturbing deer hunting trip with Allen on land that was owned by the family of Billy Lanahan, a wide receiver on the team. After they had killed a deer, Shelton said he remembers Allen asking Lanahan where the local black residents lived. Shelton said Allen then drove the three of them to that neighborhood with the severed head of the deer. “He proceeded to take the doe’s head and stuff it into a mailbox,” Shelton said. [Link]
I am interested of course in what these former teammates have to say about Allen as it has bearing on the whole “macaca” incident. However, I am equally blown away by how similar this is to when former Presidential candidate John Kerry got “swift-boated” during the 2004 campaign. At that time it was some of Kerry’s former Vietnam war comrades that cast aspersions on his character from their interaction with him decades before. Here it is Allen’s former teammates on the UVA Cavaliers. Are we about to see political karma played out before our eyes? Another Presidential hopeful’s ambitions thwarted? I am going to predict so. Many macacas are known for their belief in karma after all. 🙂
Al M, what are you, Chris Wallace, with the loaded questions? Am I supposed to take that question seriously? You are wagging your finger at me right now, aren’t you?
I’m curious about the response to Al-Mujahid’s very good point in #50 (and earlier in #43). The fact that this isn’t just “so and so used a word.” But that there’s a wink-wink pattern of “we all know what we think of those people.” Lots of race baiting, lots of code words. Along this line, Allen’s deeper offence wasn’t “macaca,” it was “welcome to America,” the way he used it in a certain context in front of a certain crowd. The way he presented one definite idea of who belongs, and who’s a visitor.
What do you make of that long-standing and still-continuing pattern, MD?
LOL@Chris Wallace.
I am serious though. Maybe you have a different take on the Southern Strategy. I see things through a leftist prism.
Those “simplistic versions” — the one you mention and its reverse — are common out there in the culture, but in the context of this site and the conversation that takes place here, your point is a straw man. Whatever else you think of it, the political discussion that takes place here is anything but simplistic.
You’re judging on personalities, not politics and parties. Let’s say you are a feminist and an anti-racist. If you vote for Clinton despite Monica, you’re giving one individual a free pass for his personal behavior. If you vote for Allen despite the track record that we are discussing here, you are not just giving an individual a free pass, but also rewarding a calculated and orchestrated political strategy that provides cover for bigotry.
You can reply that in either case, it’s a free pass, it sets a bad example, and you don’t give free passes to anyone. If you actually manage to hold that standard in your life, then bully for you. But a free pass to an individual and a free pass to an overarching political strategy are two different matters.
“Shuffle and jive” is a historical reference, as you know; “house macaca” makes such a reference as well. You may find these terms distasteful, but they aren’t calling Allen voters bad people. They are simply pointing to the historical legacy of people of color accomondating racists. There’s a whole history of that in this country.
Funny you should bring up that example on this day.
Does anybody remember when Jesse Jackson referred to NYC as “hymie city” — in case anyone doesn’t know, hymie is an insulting word for Jews. Caused quite a rucus but Jackson still does whatever it is he does. However, I have heard that Jews once routinely referred to gentiles as “goys” which is also pretty insulting. Epithets for race, gender, nationality, etc. are a part of the language, unfortunately, like curse words. Nowadays in the workplace–the one sacred area in which all prejudices must be left behind as the races meet in name of efficient money making–we are all expected to control our tongues and swallow our prejudices no matter how little we personally matter in the great scheme of things. I don’t give a tinker’s damn about Allen, but few of us would want our private thoughts, much less our youthful thoughtless words, scrutinized out of context. So no politician, dealing with our money, our lives, our futures and our countries, should be allowed to get away with devisive speech for which a policeman or secretary or mid-level manager, or some other poor schlub would lose their job. At the very least, a person shows no self control running their mouths like that. But again–if all politicans were so honest we wouldn’t have to worry. They are doing far worse things than using the odd and silly epithet. It’s the devil you don’t know that’s most dangerous.
“You were Dalit back home. Not here. We don’t care.” I thought i was a macaca here. Different words, same racism.
i say to hell with the virginia race…
we all need to support the retired math teacher from missouri and his quest for oprah for president in 2008… hmm..maybe then she’ll get GM to give all americans brand new cars then… hot diggity damn…getting a sponsor to give you all the cars..then taking all the credit… oprah you’re a hell of a genius…
How, exactly, is the current scrutiny of Allen’s words occurring “out of context”? (Also, how do you know they were “thoughtless”?)
Didn’t Allen grow up in Southern California and Chicago ?
haha… now john grisham and stephen king are endorsing webb..and as per king:
wha…!!
“out of context”… “odd and silly epithet”… there’s a massive disconnect here. i have been on every side of the racial-social-political spectrum – just part of being an indian – and people who use derogatory comments for other races/religions/castes are rarely doing this as a joke. there are genuine feelings of hatred and/or virtuosity and/or superiority involved. these are not the people i would have running for political office because i feel their emotions would cloud their judgement and blind them to those outside their immediate field of vision (IFOV).
i am sorry – but i really think you are talking out of your ass.
Another Presidential hopefulÂ’s ambitions thwarted?
doubt it – only skeptical b/c hillary clinton made a similarly ridiculous comment as the senator of NY, and still manages to flounce around unscathed, that is, unless only republicans are capable of racism
Oh my, how did I get painted as an Allen defender here? I’m deeply disappointed because I like his stands on many issues but I think what he has said in the past is beyond what I can accept and I’ve stated that repeatedly. I wouldn’t vote for him if I was in a position to do so.
Look, I just have spent too much time recently around the contentious, cranky, divisive big tent of the right with it’s libertarian, Wall-Street, social conservative, paleoconservative etc, types, in the last few years to believe this nonsense about code words purposely using race as a motivator. I mean, a lot of us disagree on the war. Okay. Fine. But this whole calculated bigotry for votes thing is just silly. It’s a fiction when applied to the party as a whole and all the people in it.As for Allen? Jeez, how do I know? His legislation and policies, except for the whole MLK thing, seem okay to me. Some of his personal behavior on the other hand is, uh, questionable. Anyway, I’m not an Allen defender. I am a crank and possibly hormonal (oh, do not go there, sometime feminist……)
You guys should see me on rightie sites. What? You think only SM gets this kind of love?
“How, exactly, is the current scrutiny of Allen’s words occurring “out of context”? (Also, how do you know they were “thoughtless”?)”
The sepia discussion is not out of context. It is entirely in context. I was referring to the object of the discussion–epithets, and what provokes them. Do you really think anybody with ambitions and any exposure to modern society in this litigious age would use racial and sexual epithets in public thoughtfully? The only people who get away with it and still make money are rappers. Desis have a right to know what candidates really think about brown and black people, and white for that matter. Just don’t hold your breath for the truth. Like I said, if only everybody’s bigotries were as stupidly transparent as Allen’s. This Allen guy seems pretty immature and from his track record he’s a racist because people who actually live in Virginia and deal with him, have that impression and I’ll take their word and their experience. I’d never vote for him and anyway, I live in Maryland where there are several desi candidates, should I wish to rally round the brown. I was really thinking more of other cases–the Hillary one might qualify, though I don’t like her either. What it boils down to is, you can get hung up on words. It’s deeds that matter.
hey bud – m. fool on the capitol hill … apologies for the harsh words. i was reading and interpreting your comment selectively. you definitely did not imply that this behavior is excusable – which was my take when i read it. i am sincerely sorry.
I have echoed a similar point in #21 that if the guy is genuinely contrite, then he deserves a chance. more importantly does his political career show signs of racial bias? I dont have the answer. I am hoping someone from Virigna might offer some insights.
MD – tersely, b/c I’m in a hurry. Here’s an article that argues that Allen has a long history of coded racist appeals:
This is a well known white supremacist organization. He knew exactly what he was doing with that photo.
Hairy_D:
But he grew up in California. All of this Southern stuff is an affectation. He used to be a surfer boy.
“…there are genuine feelings of hatred and/or virtuosity and/or superiority involved. these are not the people i would have running for political office because i feel their emotions would cloud their judgement and blind them to those outside their immediate field of vision (IFOV).
i am sorry – but i really think you are talking out of your ass.”
whew, OK, hairy-d, I get where you’re coming from and maybe I am too complacent, but I do think we have frame exactly what is we are afraid of HERE in this country. I don’t mean that Allen should be forgiven or that we don’t have to protest racist remarks. Of course we do. However, working where I work, I am cynical about politicians and know how shallow so much of their talk is. They are pretty useless, really. The “out of context” remark has upset people. It doesn’t mean Allen, ok. It means that speech can, in many circumstances, be taken out of context and given meaning it wasn’t meant to have, i.e. Allen meant to be an asshole. I didn’t mean to be an asshole. See? I have already admitted that shows his lack of self-control, consideration, and probably, brains. I admit that I am not giving sufficient consideration to other desi (and other minority) experiences. You’re right, I expressed myself badly. Peace.
I’m glad that we both agree that desis in Virginia who vote for Allen are wrong. “Shuffle and jive” was used to discuss the power dynamics at play; these people are making wrong decisions that let Republicans know that you can still get a desi to vote for you even if you had a noose in your office, took photos with white supremacy groups, and called desis “monkeys”. I’m not sure how you read that I called them bad or evil. Please explain. I would use the term stupid, though.
MD, you’re not the only person who has found fault with Clinton, Albright, and Christopher — some of which I would definitely agree with — but I would still choose Clinton over Bush anyday.
Maurice,
This is not an isolated incident. If Allen has grown or changed in any way it’s in the creative ways he uses to justify his racism. And your remark about America as the land of transformations is funny because Allen moved from southern Cali to Virginia in order to transform himself. Look what he’s transformed himself into!
to hairy-d: oh, I posted my response before I read your response to my first response to siddhartha. Please let’s just go with the mutual apologies. We all basically agree that Allen and his ilk are jerks and we have to keep our jerk-o-meters operative at all times.
The past is the past. People can change.
I think what matters most is Allen’s attitude now, in the year 2006. That is the only thing that should be scrutinized.
In the last 15 years, Virginia has had 3 Democrat Governors, one of them an African-American.
I grew up in the South, and though my family faced a lot of racism in the early 80s (death threats against my parents and two bomb threats from the Klan), I do honestly think that many Southerners flinch at being associated with a racist. Some don’t, you’re right, but many do.
What started this scrutiny about Allen was the macaca incident of a few months ago. That uncovered a pattern. It’s that pattern that I focus on now.
yes, allen is a major league creep.
and yes, this weblog has a clear liberal bias, because of the nature of the posters and the views of most of the commenters. look at ennis’ assertion that there was ‘relative silence from the world of blogs’ about the bombay bombings, after which he details the breakdown of major blogs which shows quite clearly that the right-wing blogs were more interested/hooked in to the story than the left-wing blogs.
that’s life. stupid commenters here on the right are highlighted in a bright & shiny fashion because many people are fact-checking their ass. those on the left get a relative pass. it’s a function of the culture.
Brooklyn Brown, my point is that at one point or another we have all voted for people who did things we found utterly reprehensible. You have, I have, we all have….unless you never bothered to vote. That’s what I’m saying. Does that excuse certain behaviors? No. But careful how you extrapolate from Allen to other Republicans…..
PS: BrooklynBrown, how have I never read your blog? I like – the overheard in New York excerpt was funny.
Okay people, stop wasting my time!
But this whole calculated bigotry for votes thing is just silly. It’s a fiction when applied to the party as a whole and all the people in it.
I am presuming that you dont follow American politics closely, because if you did, you would have not made the above statement. The Republican ‘Southern Strategy’ is not a fiction. It is and has been a reality of American politics for the past 40 years or so. I am sure you also believe that Reagan campaign start from Neshoba County Fair was purely accidental.
Is there a racial significance to this act? i mean this is a horrible act whether it was stuck in ablack family’s mailbox or white family’s mailbox, right?
But this whole calculated bigotry for votes thing is just silly. It’s a fiction when applied to the party as a whole and all the people in it.
Please dont create strawman. No one is applying it to all the people in the Republican party or to every elected official of the republican party. But to suggest that it does not exist is plain naive and ignorant IMO. I am a die hard democrat but I do understand that the Dems do pandering of their own. Why cant the Republicans also admit that there has been race baiting in the Southern states over the past few decades by the Republicans?
Re the Southern Strategy, as I said in comment #32: the political calculus of the Southern Strategy is that you win seats by courting white nativist sentiment, even at the risk of alienating black people.
The Southern Strategy is established history. That it results in providing cover to racists is a logical political implication. Whether racist code is deployed in a given political campaign is a case by case mattter. However, the Southern Strategy provides a tactical justification and incentive for deploying such code.
“Polls reflect what people are thinking in reality… and reality has a well known liberal bias” – Stephen Colbert
The Southern Strategy is established history. That it results in providing cover to racists is a logical political implication. Whether racist code is deployed in a given political campaign is a case by case mattter. However, the Southern Strategy provides a tactical justification and incentive for deploying such code.
Good point! The ‘Southern Strategy’ has played a key role in the complete decimation of the Democrats in the South. I do however believe that the next crop of Republican Southern politicians will rely more on the ‘Evangelical strategy’ as the Southern strategy is on the decline now.
It’s more a function of not being able to defend the indefensible. Six years of rhetoric measured against reality is quite damning, culture or not, for all Administrations. It’s just that this Administration drew very stark lines.
Polls reflect what people are thinking in reality… and reality has a well known liberal bias” – Stephen Colbert
you’re a case in point. comment 46 was false, you just trotted out the stereotype of racist southern whites, when anyone who has scratched the surface of allen’s background knows he’s a half-jewish kid who was raised all over the country and most prominently in california. but hey, you had your stereotypes, why did deeper? multiple other people alluded to southern racists and their cultural history, so you weren’t alone in your ignorant misimpression.
Siddartha –
“No, Kritic, I don’t believe that George F. Allen Jr. is the only person to have ever used that word. Indeed, I am sure that several other Americans have used that word. So, what is your point?”
My point is that many a congressmen and senator, from either party, must have used a derogatory term to describe a minority, including women, a la Jim tailhookwasanobigdeal webb. so, why the extra scrutiny towards allen. esp, since, your blog, which i love and respect, btw, already covered the south asia pertinent, “macacca gate”
p.s. my point on the liberal bias of the blog isn’t to suggest it should be changed. it is what it is, but when vikram, and to a lesser extent manju, trot out tired republican talking points in a “foxnews fair & balanced” manner they get smacked pretty badly. when HMF repeats leftish gibberish-cant (“whiter power structure” blah blah “skin privilege” blah blah) there isn’t a concomittant response from the principals (some random non-lefty tries to engage usually).
The deer’s head in the mailbox basically means, “If you don’t do as I tell you and stay in your place, I’m going to get you.” Kind of similar to the horse’s head in the bedroom from the Godfather. I think to a white person’s mailbox it would just be a random act of vandalism since it wouldn’t send the message “you better…or else.” To a black person, though, it’s a hate crime meant to intimidate.
multiple other people alluded to southern racists and their cultural history, so you weren’t alone in your ignorant misimpression.
Pointing out the fact that a segment of the Southern electorate who votes Republican has been race-baited is not a misimpression. Do you disagree with the assertion?
Because Indian business men/women and the IARC continue to support him.
Jim tailhookwasanobigdeal Webb = tu quoque fallacy (see comment #10)
Pointing out the fact that a segment of the Southern electorate who votes Republican has been race-baited is not a misimpression. Do you disagree with the assertion?
no, i was pointing out to the conflation of allen with that subculture. HMF & his kind have a theory of the situation, and they just applied their theory. allen is X, Y entails X, so allen is Y. but he isn’t. “fact checking” theories requires a culture of criticism, and leftish ideas do not come in for the same criticism here that rightish ideas do.
for example, you alluded to mexican american family values, did you not? empirically mexican americans, and latin americans in general, actually have very high out of wedlock birthrates and what not. the theory is isn’t correct, but few people on the right or left bother to check it.
Siddhartha:
Since I brought Clinton into the mess, let me clarify that I wasn’t using him to provide cover for conservatives who’d like to vote for Allen but to rather show why the charges should be taken seriously (which is pretty clear as my post 7 is aimed at vikram). I know how you’re oppossed to the tit for tat game in politics so I don’t want to pracitice it lest you sik Kobayashi on me like you did to Rushdie ;-]
But Monica is a strawwoman. jones, broderick, willey charge him with harrassment and rape. This goes beyond the personal and violates the public morality of a feminist. now i understand that clinton’s behaviour could be defended, but no desi dem is making that argument…rather they are saying the behaviour is private.
Razib, you’re also a case in point. To parallel you, anyone who has scratched the surface of Allen’s background knows he found out only a few weeks ago about his Jewish ancestry. To use it in an argument intended to promote his multicultural upbringing is disingenuous — especially for someone who famously claimed how much they know at the tips of your fingers(forget where your quote is). You also need to fact check. “but hey, you had your stereotypes, why did[sic] deeper?”
“family values” means different things to different people. having kids out of wedlock is not as much of a social more for latinos as it is for most desis. on the other hand, latino families expect their children to take care of one another more so than desi families do.
To parallel you, anyone who has scratched the surface of Allen’s background knows he found out only a few weeks ago about his Jewish ancestry.
i knew he found out “a few weeks ago,”* and i shouldn’t have used the term half-jewish, but he knew he was half-tunisian, and certainly knowing french is not the norm for a southern “good ole boy.”
as for how much i know “at my fingertips,” you seriously doubt that? puleez.
“family values” means different things to different people. having kids out of wedlock is not as much of a social more for latinos as it is for most desis.
i don’t care what latinos believe family values means. i know what social conservatives and liberals in the USA are trying to impart by this, and i don’t think high rates of illegitimacy count.
Yeah, “family values” has also a fatherf***ing codeword for many things in the past.
…has also been a ..
for example, you alluded to mexican american family values, did you not?
When was that?
Abhi, you say:
But you defend the use of the allen story even if it proves to be untrue because of the swift boat ads:
Tu Quoque?
No, I said I’d be personally happy if it hurts him because of the karmic irony. Tu Quoque is only pertinent in the middle of an argument or debate.
Here is an example for you:
“Hitler was bad. He killed millions of people.”
“Oh yeah, the fire-bombing of Dresden was bad also. A lot of people got killed”
Nice try though. It isn’t going to keep people from continuing to roll their eyes at your ridiculous interjection of Clinton into this.