Ignorance or just ignorance?
Does white man speak with Fork Tongue or pull from his crapper?
Was it another example of slimy politicking or just ignorance this past weekend (Aug. 11, 2006) at a campaign rally in Virginia when Senator George Allen [R-VA], who’s also in a mildly contested battle to hold his Senate seat this year made insensitive and apparently demeaning remarks to a 20 year old volunteer, S.R. Sidarth, of Indian descent from his opponent’s campaign?
It’s being reported that Senator Allen called the volunteer “macaca” by the media (FOX News Link), though the spelling seems to actually be “macaque”. The Senator also welcomed Sidarth to America and “the real world of Virginia” in front of the otherwise all white crowd of about 100 in attendance. Sidarth is a Virginia native of Fairfax County.
Senator Allen later apologized for his comments and claimed he didn’t even know what the term he used meant. He says he thought it sounded similar to mohawk (macaque[ma-kak',-kak'] and mohawk[mo-hok]). Apparently he was only playfully jabbing at the volunteer’s hair style, though it’s actually a mullet (short on top and long in the back) and most 4th graders know the difference–then tease each other accordingly.
However, macaque are short-tailed monkeys of North Africa and the term macaque is used as a French slur to describe North Africans. Senator Allen’s mother is French Tunisian (Mediterranean coast of North Africa) and the Senator does speak French.
So, did Senator Allen really know what he was saying or was he just acting like a schoolyard prankster and teasing the volunteer for his hair style using a term that he says he doesn’t even “know what it means”? And if so, do his apologetic claims give us reason to question his intellectual or moral integrity? Have we reached the point in America today where it’s acceptable to label and frame others with terms that we don’t understand the meanings to, so long as it gets applause from the crowd and we’re willing to apologize and admit our linguistic deficiencies after the fact?
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I don’t know if George Allen meant something by this statement or not. I never even heard the story. But, if I were to think about it, the fact that his mother is, to use the slang slur, a macaque, I would bet that Allen wouldn’t be using that term in a derogatory manner to another person, unless he hates his own mother (and even himself).
If he were a democrat, would you even care about this?
I haven’t read all the editorials on this site, but are there any about Cynthia McKinney, that wildly popular (and out of work) democrat that spews such racist garbage regularly?
Are there any posts about the way the left opposed the nomination of black females to federal courts because they didn’t want Bush to get credit for it (afterall, hard to call a guy a racist who has done more for minorities than any democrat has as president, though they still call him one)?
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by Michael Bridge on Jun 22, 2008 at 1:28 am
Michael, I may have mislead you and other readers by omitting the full context of the word macaque when used as a slur. This story has been all over the news and talked about ad nausea. If you’ve missed it I can only assume it’s been a busy week for you. In writing this I didn’t see a need to define the slur completely, but obviously I should have.
The term is used as a slur specific to ‘dark skinned peoples of North Africa’. Allen’s mother doesn’t fit into that description.
Her heritage is simply of the region where that term is used as a slur, and since writing this several others have indicated to me that all French speaking people know the word as a racial slur. I don’t speak French (nor eat French Toast), so I can only say that this is what I’ve been told by multiple people–it may or may not in-fact be so.
As for questioning whether I’ve written this just to act like a partisan sniper, ignorance isn’t a partisan issue and shouldn’t be framed as such.
You’re correct, I haven’t written on McKinney, nor Democratic oppositions to the nomination of black females to federal courts by Bush. With the nominations, I simply disagree that they were racially based rather that ideological and am not going to add to the rhetoric there. It’s a debate of hypothetical opinions on other’s [the Democrat's] views, but lacks any blatant remarks of ignorance which I would be willing to write about.
As for McKinney, she’s out of control–but everybody recognizes that. I’ve believed for some time that her political future was very short and there’s nothing I can express that would portray her more negatively than she has herself.
The difference with Senator Allen is that most would agree his political future has a long way to go yet. I also don’t believe he’s as ignorant as his unfortunate comments in this instance, and with the public attentions on them that there’s been I’ll bet you won’t hear anything similar from the Senator again. That’s a good thing for Allen and every American represented by him.
I write about issues and events where I believe discussion of the subject is warranted and can be positive. The radically consistent misbehaviors of a soon-to-be-forgotten figure like McKinney usually don’t qualify. I also call it as I see it regardless of party affiliations or philosophical leanings:
Blind & Spineless – An Invertebrate Love Story? Nope, Democrats again. I wasn’t kind to Democrats at all here.
Leave Wal-Mart alone – Accountability lies directly with the shoppers, not the shop I made no new friends among liberals with this piece.
A state of disunion – The pessimistic defeatism of an optimist While the initial piece was about President Bush’s State of the Union address, the equally long Postscript lashed out at Democrats and earned me some harsh words from a local Democrat official whom I work with on an unrelated [to buxtohispano.com] project.
And my favorite of the bunch, Activist show and tell, or just show? – Cute slogans and wild gimmicks, do they really help the cause This piece was posted long before the reader comments feature on buxtohispano.com was added, but within days of publishing it I received dozens and dozens of venom filled email messages from members of the left. One promised that my children will all be fat and stupid. Gosh, I love prophets.
I’ve also harshly criticized Democrats repeatedly in various pieces for vilifying Oil Companies just for the political PR. I believe in free-market capitalism and oppose every attempt to impose special taxes or penalties on a person, company or industry for having success. There’s plenty of reasons to condemn the Oil Industry, but earning profits in a consumer driven market is not among them in my opinion.
I’m not suggesting that I’m non-biased. I certainly lean to the left on most issues, though also to the right on some as well. When I write I make no attempt to hide my leanings on the topic. I do however, attempt to approach every topic as fairly as I possibly can. Senator Biden has made some dumb and racially insensitive remarks in the past. I’m not going to write a new piece about an old story, but watch how I pounce should he do so again. Ditto with any demeaning, diminishing and/or ignorant statements from any of our leaders, regardless of party. I simply expect better from our entire leadership.
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by Scott Bannon on Jun 22, 2008 at 1:30 am