What'd I Say?

Sen. George Allen (R-VA) may win re-election, but he can basically kiss off any chance he has for the White House thanks to his caught-on-tape gaffe.

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.

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Reached Monday evening, Allen said that the word had no derogatory meaning for him and that he was sorry. "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."

I have a feeling that if the Webb campaign sent out a black campaign staffer to video the Allen events and Mr. Allen said, "This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, sambo, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent," the race (pun intended) would be over. And note the use of the conditional case in Mr. Allen's apology: "if he's offended by that." That means that Mr. Allen is only sorry if Mr. Sidarth was offended. Otherwise, all bets are off.

I'll take Sen. Allen at his word that he didn't intend to demean Mr. Sidarth as an individual, but that doesn't rule out the possibility that he sees someone with dark skin and comes up with a racial slur without even thinking about it. That's not uncommon. I grew up knowing people who would use a racial or ethnic term like "colored," "darkie," "camel jockey," or even the occasional N-word without missing a beat. Most of them were sophisitcated, well-off people who would be mortified if they thought they were causing offense; it was how they were brought up. I'm willing to give Sen. Allen the benefit of the doubt that he was not intentionally singling out Mr. Sidarth for his ethnic background; he was just brought up that way and doesn't know any better.

That may be his excuse, and it may even work in his Senate campaign, although I think Virginia is becoming a tad more enlightened than Mr. Allen thinks (except in one notable area). But if Mr. Allen has any hopes of running for the White House, this tape plus his affinity for Confederate memorabilia will come back to haunt him. Old times there are not forgotten.