George Allen Stepped in Macaca
Pop Quiz: Which one of these two people was born and raised in Virginia?
 Senator George Allen |  "Macaca" (S.R. Sidarth) |
That's right, it's not our elected official, who was born in Whittier, California. It's Sidarth, who Allen referred to as "Macaca, or whatever his name is." The Senator then went on to say "Welcome to America." Perhaps realizing that he had crossed a line, Allen added "and the real world of Virginia." Kinda funny, since Sidarth has apparently lived nowhere else.
By the time he had been a Virginia resident for as long as Sidarth has, Allen had been in the Virginia House of Delegates for ten years and was running for Congress.
Sidarth graduated from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County. Allen graduated from Palos Verdes High School, less than half a mile from the Pacific Ocean and two miles from Redondo Beach.
Sidarth attends the University of Virginia, Allen's alma mater. Mr. Allen probably couldn't tell you that alma mater, strictly translated, means "nourishing mother," but I'm sure he knows that it more commonly refers to a school from which one graduated.
Allen probably couldn't have told you that macaca, strictly translated, means "a genus of mammals including rhesus monkeys and other macaques." Whether he knew that it's the French pronunciation of "macaque" and is used as a racial epithet in several French-speaking nations (such as his mother's native Tunisia), individuals must decide for themselves.
Perhaps it's another piece of a racist jigsaw, with Allen's fondness for the confederate battle flag, and his high school suspension for spray painting allegedly racist graffiti on school walls. Or perhaps it's an unfortunate coincidence that his choice of nicknames was racially demeaning (rather than just generally demeaning). And that when he said "welcome to America" to an American who doesn't look like white America, he really meant "welcome to the real Virginia, down here by Kentucky, away from the Beltway world of Jim Webb." Perhaps.
Allen made the "Macaca" reference at a rally in front of 100 or so people in Breaks, Virginia, a 400 mile drive from Fairfax County. Most people don't appreciate the length of Virginia's southern border; Breaks is further west than Cleveland, and as close as you can get to Kentucky while remaining in the Commonwealth. Sidarth said that he was the only non-white person present.
posted by David Lake Clayton at 8/16/2006 02:13:00 PM
26 Comments:
Tunisia, not Algeria.
The key here may well be his mother, even more than growing up and going to school in the belt of So. California he did. The political term the French have for the expat French Algerians skips me at the moment, but they were not known for their, ah, appreciation of multiculturalism, as one says today. They were the losers in the Algerian independence movement against the French, that won in the early 1960s (think "Battle of Algiers") and, not suprisingly, were/are a bitter, militantly chauvinist and generally reactionary lot.
Allen's mother is from Tunisia, not Algeria, I think. Not that it makes a difference, but you don't want a bunch of wingers trying to discredit you based on an inconsequential error.
Although you question that George Allen may not know what 'Macaca' means in French. George studied French at the University of Virginia. Between that and his mothers' country of origin, he should have a pretty good idea what the word means.
Welcome to Virginia George.
But still not on the southern border of VA.
(Obviously I'm now yanking your chain. I grew up on Wallen's Creek in Lee County. It always rankles me when people speak of South West Virginia, but what they are really talking about is a place a couple hundred miles north of Blackwater.)
Gee, Does Virginia go all the way to the Pacific ocean? If not, what is the point of saying it goes past Detroit?
Actually, Cumberland Gap isn't in Virginia; it's on the Tennessee-Kentucky border to the west.
Now I'm really confused! I thought Cumberland Gap was in KY/TN, as in US 25 South.
Yes, VA extends a long way to the West. Back in the days of the Revolution, Augusta County, VA extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean, so it is considerably shorter now.
Town Crier
George Allen says he intended his comment not as a racial epithet, but as a reference to Mr. Sidarth's haircut. Apparently, George thought it was a mohawk, which his dyslexic stammer translated (repeatedly) as macaca.
The problem is, he doesn't have a mohawk; he has a mullet. George is obviously not from Virginia or a real Nascar lovin', real haircut wearing, home grown Virginian or he would have known the difference.
What I want to ask George is: Hey, boy, you gotta problem with mullets?
Now I'm really confused! I thought Cumberland Gap was in KY, as in US 25 South.
bar
Thanks for this blog...keep up the good work.
Oh and jri: please read the post.
Most people don't appreciate the length of Virginia's southern border; Breaks is further west than Cleveland, and as close as you can get to Kentucky while remaining in the Commonwealth.
I don't know about you jri but I think the detector is pretty clear that Breaks is on the western border, that is, if your reading comprehention is above grade 6.
It gets better. The media and bloggers are now picking up on the fact that "good ole boy" George Allen actually has no southern roots at all (California!!), that his southern-fried image is merely a facade and, oh, he speaks french fluently and surely learned the north african slur "Macaca" from his french-tunisian (and Jewish) mother.
What will all those fine Virginians, who laughed it up when ole George was singling out 'darkie' and welcoming him to America, say when they discover that he's really Jewish by birth (not Presbyterian) and has been faking this native act for years?
As long as we're commenting on Virginia's far SouthWest - Virginia's southwesternmost county - Lee County (2 counties further down the border from where Allen spoke in Dickenson County) is unique in American geography in that it is closer to 8 other state capitals (Charleston, Columbus, Indianapolis, Frankfurt, Nashville, Birmingham, Atlanta, Columbia, and Raleigh) than it is to it's own state capital in Richmond. Where Allen spoke is only closer to 7 other state capitals - it actually is closer to Richmond than to Birmingham, AL - but only by a few miles.
Now i'm sure if a democrat made that kind of remark, Fox news would have an endless replay of it for at least 24 hours.
He, Allen, was annoyed becasue his "opposition" was present.
He should be run out of the Senate
I don't actually know what Mr. Sidarth's immediate reaction to Allen's saying, "Welcome to America," was, but, seeing as he's a native Virginian, I think it would have been great if he put on his best Southern accent and said, "Why, Ah was born and raised in the great state of Virginia, suh. Your insultin' statement is not worthy of a gentleman!"
Don't forget to mention that Allen speaks French.
it is a testament to the power of propaganda that a french-speaking californian has convinced so many people of his virginian bona fides.
When governor, George Allen did his best to spit on my shoe. I had asked him a softball question during a press conference at a local defense factory's announcement of securing a whopping contract to build more war machinery. He had an open door to look and sound great.
Instead, George gathered up his tobacco-dip-laced spit and leaned over me. His objective was to back me up and shut me up. I didn't move an inch.
He's not much of a spitter. The glob landed an inch away from my shoe.
This man isn't a Virginian, and he certainly isn't presidential material.
There's an old Virginian saying that goes: "To be a Virginian either by Birth, Marriage, Adoption, or even on one's Mother's side, is an Introduction to any State in the Union, a Passport to any Foreign Country, and a Benediction from Above. [Anonymous]"
Simple question: which one of these is Allen's claim? Granted, Allen married his wife while living in C-ville, but I can't find where she's from. All in all, I think Siddarth wins by a landslide.
Two points - Redondo Beach is NOTHING like Palos Verdes Estates. It's much more diverse. Ouch on the Kentucky comment, from a Redondo Beach native living in Kentucky.
The Senator then went on to say "Welcome to America." Perhaps realizing that he had crossed a line, Allen added "and the real world of Virginia." Kinda funny, since Sidarth has lived nowhere else.
Ah, but George Allen was referring to "real Virginia", from the perspective of the Republicans of Breaks, Va. My mother used to use the same phrase, by which she meant: not northern Virginia.
However, that's giving Allen too much credit for actual thinking. Given the context, he was clearly saying to "his people" that Webb is the candidate of "those people" (the N word, the Q word, immigrants.).
Overall, great comparison. However, just because your commonwealth (Va.) has a racist politician in the national spotlight, there is no need to badmouth my commonwealth (Ky.). Near the end of your piece you imply Kentucky is a racist state -- which may be the case, but a Virginian calling Kentucky racist is the pot calling the kettle black. Virginians harping on Kentucky's racism has happened before too, like when UVA wanted Tubby Smith to coach their basketball team because Kentucky was supposedly so racist. Both states have a bad record on race, so its pointless to ask which is more racist. Again excellent post, but a bit hypocritical when you harp on the stereotyping of others and then go and do it yourself. If you disagree, all you have to do is tell me what the hell Kentucky (mentioned twice, in your post, I believe) has to do with the George Allen incident?
With all the focus on this story in the press and right here on the internet, I was astounded at an accidental discovery while rolling my cursor over the two pictures. The file name for Senator George Allen is Allen.jpg and the file name for S.R. Sidarth is macaca.jpg The same word in this controversy is the same word used to name Sidarth's file. Was this an accident?
Re: macaca.jpg
Fair enough, though I think Sidarth's entry essay for Larry Sabato's senior seminar class gives me license. The full text: "I am Macaca."
Re: Kentucky
Your inference of stereotyping by me is unwarranted. In both cases, my references to Kentucky were geographical, as in "we're very very far away from Jim Webb's Virginia."
By the way, Breaks is in a county that generally votes Democratic.
Re: Cumberland Gap
You folks who think you know your geography so well should go do some research. The Cumberland Gap is between Virginia and Kentucky, about a quarter mile north of Tennessee. Rt. 25 no longer passes through the gap.
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