Though I live and vote in Pennsylvania’s 7th district, the big race for me — and probably most SM readers — was really the Senate in Virginia: the “macaca” race. In hindsight, it’s surprising that George Allen didn’t seem concerned that the person he called “macaca” happened to be carrying a video camera, and probably didn’t even dream that the event being filmed would immediately be seen by millions on news shows, talk shows, and of course, on video sharing sites like Youtube (go ahead, watch the video again, you know you want to). It’s possible that this will go down as the first “Youtube” election, just as 2004 was the first “blogged” election — though notably, the blogosphere (dominated by liberal blogs) didn’t seem to make a difference in the outcome of 2004, and I’m sure it’s an open question as to whether Youtube had any real impact in the tight Senate races in places like Virginia and Montana.
“Macaca” was one of those strange insults you don’t know what to do with at first. As with many ethnic slurs (remember “rat-eater”?), it was unclear at first that it even was a slur, since “macaca” isn’t a word commonly used to describe (or insult) people from the Indian subcontinent. That isn’t really new; ethnic slurs thrive on ignorance, and often misdescribe the people they are aimed at.
As people looked up various possible definitions of the word macaca, they discovered that none of them are complimentary. Like most South Asians in the U.S. (see Abhi’s post, and the reactions to it), I immediately registered “macaca” as an insult, though I wasn’t surprised that many others didn’t see it that way. Eventually the mainstream consensus seemed to be that it was in fact an ethnic insult, and the next question for most South Asian Americans was, “will this matter to anyone?” Will anyone else be as offended by this as we are? More is at stake in that question than first appears. Behind it is a deep anxiety about acceptance and integration, about being equally valued and respected in American society. Everyone is on board (usually) if a public figure makes a remark that could be construed as hostile to other, more settled minority groups — the hostile response to Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade this summer was essentially unequivocal. And Trent Lott’s political career was ended derailed by a comment relating to Jim Crow. But are Virginians, and Americans in general, going to care about “macaca,” which affects a newer, smaller, and less visible minority community? As the macaca story gathered steam, there was almost a sigh of relief as the answer appeared to be “yes.” And now, if Jim Webb’s slim lead holds following a probable recount in the coming days, it will be hard not to see this incident as a decisive factor in the election.But did “macaca” really make a difference? One CNN pundit suggested, based on exit polls, that “macaca” may well not have been finally as important to voters as issues such as the war in Iraq — 56% of voters said they did not think George Allen was a racist. But it’s hard to argue with the huge swing in the polls that followed the initial comment — even if in the end, exit poll results suggest that other issues may have been more prevalent in voters’ minds. In a race as close as this, it did make a difference.
There was a bit of gallows humor following the “macaca” gaffe that the use of racial slurs might actually help George Allen, but that turned out to be totally false: Virginia is changing. There are now a decent number of South Asians in Virginia — 77,000 — and a significant subset of them are voting American citizens. Assuming that the vast majority were voting for Webb, there are certainly enough desis there to have affected the final tally of the election in Webb’s favor (again, if the current 3000 vote margin holds after a recount). Other stats: according to the U.S. census in 2000, 4.3 percent of Virginia’s population is Asian. And close to 600,000 Virginia residents (8.5 percent, with a total state population of 7 million) are foreign born, well above the national average. Virginia is looking less like the “southern firewall,” and more like a mid-Atlantic state like Pennsylvania or Maryland. Urban counties are very blue, suburban counties will be purple (currently leaning blue), and the sparsely populated rural counties will be very red.
It was probably ended any of Allen’s ambitions for a future presdential run like Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick plunge did. And also coined a new term for the encyclopedia of political career blunders.
Today is definitely a cause for celebration! I really wanted Allen to go down, and for awhile there, I was worried about the poll numbers.
Lots of celebrating in the city tonight! Woo-hoo!
Macacaroach (86):
Eh… Some people just vote for a candidate on the sole virtue of having a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ next to the candidate’s name. For such people, the vices and virtues of each candidate simply are secondary concerns (if a concern at all). Instead, they can vote a simple straight-party ticket and continue on in their ignorance.
The fact of the matter is that it takes hardly any awareness in order to vote, and the result has been the degeneration of politics and campaigning to mud-slinging and fear tactics–these apply to both parties. Political campaigns no longer try to help voters make informed decisions. In fact, it has grown increasingly difficult to get real information about a candidate’s platform. The result of all of this is a collapse of the political system to a kakistocracy.
Since I do not live in Virginia, I have not spent much time to learn about either Webb or Allen. If Allen is as bigoted and ignorant as commentators have stated, then I am glad he will no longer remain in office. I will also be glad if it manages to ruin his presidential aspirations.
Nonetheless, I disagree with Macacaroach’s analysis. In tone and content, it does nothing more than to reveal the author’s own prejudices and sentiments.
but the only people using “macaca” are the assorted desi sluts and desi pimps and desi mujahids here at SM. unfortunately, these jokers who clamor to be known as brown(nosers) are setting a loser agenda for Indians in the US. when was the last time some chinese guy begged to called yellow or grouped with the southeast asian Jemaah Islamiyah.
I guess as I am a Mujahid for debauchery, I do deserve to be put in the category of sluts/pimps 😉 Whats with all the hate? Who exactly is setting a loser agenda? We are mocking Allen and his ilk, not ourselves. Surely, you can understand that?
Maratha#95: Like it or not, we are getting off our coon-dis and taking back porch macaca. Also, can I be both a pimp and a mujahid? I carry a gold cane but I do love me some good ol’ fashioned fundamentalism.
To the tune of that old Dr. Pepper commercial:
I’m macaca He’s macaca She’s macaca We’re macaca Wouldn’t you like to be macaca too..
Far better theme song than the Kermit rewrite, don’tcha think?
You know, I’ve been so busy with work and whatnot that I never got around to thanking everyone. As promised, I DID write Jim Webb the biggest donation I’ve ever made to a political party from the sales of Macaca shirts.. 30% of T-shirt profits went to Webb’s campaign. It was probably a drop in the bucket but given that Webb beat Allen by only 8,000 or so votes I think you can safely feel like we made a difference. Thank you everyone who got out there and made a ruckus over the Macaca thing. I wish I could get out and party with you in NYC. IF anyone wants to party in CO, drop me a line.
To close out, here’s a pic of my half desi nephew sporting a “Who You Callin’ Macaca?” shirt.
Big ups, Mr. Macaca 🙂
To those of us outside the US macaca seems like the Sally Field Oscar moment – ‘They (general US public) like me, they really like me!’
It’s amazing how far we’ve come. I couldn’t have imagined the power of SM and other blogs even a few years ago. I suspect SM and a few good ladies and gents who post on here deserve some credit for the defeat of Allen. Bravo! I’m getting drunk tonight in celebration.
I think Maccaca is a word that embarrassed people who were not desi. This is a country in which Archer Daniels Midland runs a commercial telling us how proud they are to grow soybeans for teenagers in China. It some ways its one of the more egalatarian places in the world, even with its problems. The better angels of our nature have won out this election cyle. Good job America!
And good job Sepia Mutiny Desis, macacaca as a word is a joke and nothing more.
Tash when Sally Field said that it was pathetic more than anything else. If Desis are liked, its going to be if “we” have knowledge of self and self respect. If people respect Desis that’s to their credit, just like its to Desis credit to respect other communities
Price fixing, subsidy sucking, high fructose corn syrup adding, market distorting, ethanol lobbyists who advertise on PBS to appear to cleanse themselves of their sins. Pox on ADM.
But they still think the way to win people’s sympathy is to tell them they are feeding people young people in China. Says more about their audience than about them
Sorry, Abhi! So blinded by your shimmering uberbloginess, I neglected to mention you.
Abhi kept the story alive here. He wrote key followups outlining a course of action, which fed off of Subodh’s enthusiasm.
He’s a one-man cabal. People will have to ask for his permission to run for office in the future – and not just in the Dakotas.
Wise words KXB @ 6 and PKS @ 64, 83. And you did it without unnecessary personal attacks. I think the M word should be kept alive only in connection w/ Allen. A move from Dan Savage playbook.
Both Santorum and Allen have presidential ambitions. People need constant reminders of their scary sides. As I mentioned elsewhere, domain names like macacanet/blog/web.com are still available. Hint, hint 😉
Maitri wrote:
sorry, the salon piece is just a retrospective trying to capture the effects of Allen’s comments and the ensuing mayhem in my opinion.
Given the nature of Allen’s comments, the reaction, and the election results…what do you think the future holds? Is there an expectation that East Indian and South Asian cultures in the U.S. will link up with African-Americans to move the Democratic Party away from centrist politics to more progressive stances?
Up until now, these cultures (especially 2nd gen, college educated) were largely silent on issues of civil rights and race as long as they were enjoying a prosperous lifestyle. Yes?
Is this likely to change now that macaca has been dismissively applied to anyone without a caucasoid appearance?
Or or will activism simply be limited to, “Wass up my macacca?”
Sure, it is revealing that candidates use racial or sexist slurs when they believe they’re speaking to a small intimate group. But what you have to ask yourself is what kind of leaders this sort of relentless YouTube scrutiny is going to give us. We are, all of us, flawed: racist, sexist, narrow-minded, morally shallow, repulsive… at one time or another. It is not these typical human failings on which a light should be shown, but on the issues, the voting record… the things that our leaders stand for and have shown they are willing to work to accomplish. A flawless, PC candidate? I want a real person, not some manufactured political puppet.. warts and all.