Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Somehow, I'm Not Surprised
There's shocking news from the campaign trail today. A white Republican senator from a southern state used a racial slur to address a brown-skinned person.
My attempt at sarcasm aside, Virginia Senator George Allen used the word "Macaca" to address S.R. Sidarth. Sidarth is a staffer for Jim Webb, Allen's Democratic challenger in the Senate race. Allen, a GOP hopeful for President in 2008, used the word twice toward Sidarth and finished his racist tirade by saying "welcome to America."
While Sidarth is of Indian descent, he was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia. That means he needs no "welcome to America" from anybody.
The word "Macaca" has a couple of known meanings. One refers to a species of monkey. Another is a slur for people from northern Africa...people that look like Sidarth. Allen has claimed that he didn't know what the word means and that he made it up. Allen has also claimed that he meant to comment on Sidarth's Mohawk haircut. Both excuses seem dubious to me.
As the Washington Post reports, Allen has offered a shallow apology. He's also trying to control the fallout. Fortunately for Allen, most of the people who would vote for him probably aren't bothered by racial slurs. The people who are would probably vote for his Democratic opponent anyway.
My attempt at sarcasm aside, Virginia Senator George Allen used the word "Macaca" to address S.R. Sidarth. Sidarth is a staffer for Jim Webb, Allen's Democratic challenger in the Senate race. Allen, a GOP hopeful for President in 2008, used the word twice toward Sidarth and finished his racist tirade by saying "welcome to America."
While Sidarth is of Indian descent, he was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia. That means he needs no "welcome to America" from anybody.
The word "Macaca" has a couple of known meanings. One refers to a species of monkey. Another is a slur for people from northern Africa...people that look like Sidarth. Allen has claimed that he didn't know what the word means and that he made it up. Allen has also claimed that he meant to comment on Sidarth's Mohawk haircut. Both excuses seem dubious to me.
As the Washington Post reports, Allen has offered a shallow apology. He's also trying to control the fallout. Fortunately for Allen, most of the people who would vote for him probably aren't bothered by racial slurs. The people who are would probably vote for his Democratic opponent anyway.
