Allen's Mob and Their Caca

by emptywheel

By now, you've no doubt read about or seen the video of George Allen drudging up the racism his mother taught him to insult an Indian-American student trailing his campaign for the Webb campaign. Allen is now on his second or third excuse right now, trying to claim he was talking caca all the time.

Allen's a racist, and we need to use Allen's antics to make that clear to people.

But I'd like to suggest you go back and watch the video and listen to the crowd. The clip starts with Allen talking about "positive and constructive ideas," how it's important "that we motivate people for something." He then turns to Sidarth and launches his attack. At first, just one person--it sounds like a woman with a deep voice--cackles at Allen's attack. As Allen continues, one person--perhaps the cackling woman--starts clapping, egging him on. One woman, and then several people, start yelling and hooting. By the time Allen suggests Webb has never been to this part of the state, many people are hooting. Allen, now playing off the energy of the crowd, looks away from Sidarth with an open mouthed laugh. Allen makes a crack that Webb is with a bunch of Hollywood types, and one man laughs loudly, Ha Haaa.

And then Allen brings them all into the joke. "Welcome. Let's give a welcome to Macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."

And to that, it sounds like, everyone claps.

This is more than Allen making a blatantly racist comment. This is Allen working up a crowd into shared enthusiasm for that racist hate. This is Allen playing off the one woman who cackled at his "joke" to build the whole crowd into complicit participants in the attack.

Now I know this is SW Virginia and I know that Allen was likely not the only Neoconfederate at the event. But I suspect not all of the people there are the same kind of ugly racist that Allen is. It took his baiting before they joined in.

And I'm not surprised by Allen's actions. But I do think it's time to turn the spotlight not just on Allen, but on those complicit in his crime, those who encouraged him. There are a number of Republicans who don't care to be associated with this overt mob racism. But this attack was a Republican attack, one Allen's donors participated in, egging him on. We need to ask moderate VA Republicans if they support Allen's attack ... because it sure seems like he did this with their support.

Comments

[emptypockets]

Remarkably thorough etymology -- with pictures! -- of macaca (which is, in fact, the plural of caca (or kaku) in its language of origin) over at http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003458.html>Language Log... and a good summary: "As far as I can tell, Allen's usage was nothing more than a dumb ad-hoc label for "funny-looking foreign guy," which is offensive for reasons having nothing to do with monkeys."

The people of Virginia need to rise above this. It's not surprising, with war in Iraq and political exploitation of immigrants as a fear-trigger, that this kind of xenophobia would find a ready audience. And I find myself wondering, if he hadn't gone all the way to "macaca" and just gone as far as "welcome to america" and foreigner-hating condescension directed at a Virginian-born American of Indian descent, would it have made the news?

[SaltinWound]

I'm afraid this is going to blow over, that the press sees a moral equivalency between this and the Jane Hamsher blackface controversy. Even though Jane was using the image to make a non-racist point, while Allen is a racist and the worst kind of bully.

[Kagro X]

Gee, should we all still believe the Confederate flag and noose he used to decorate his office with was really just a "western theme?"

[SaltinWound]

Plus Jane's not running for office and George is, there's another difference for you. Still, I'm afraid this isn't going to get enough play.

[Jeff]

Best description of the event I've seen. As for this:

Allen is now on his second or third excuse right now, trying to claim he was talking caca all the time.

I suspect the idea they had made up a nickname for Siddarth is partly designed to cover for the possibility that further instances of Allen or his campaign using the term will be discovered. However, they're really screwed if anyone can uncover Allen using the term in a non-Siddarth-related context.

In any case, though, the new story is patently and definitively bs, since anyone can tell you that the amalgam of "mohawk" and "caca" would have been "mocaca" not "macaca," which is clearly what Allen said. Unless they pronounce "mohawk" "mahawk" or "m'hawk" in Virginia, which my mouth can't even physically manage.

[Sara]

SW Virginia has in recent years acquired a fairly substantial Hispanic Population -- most are not citizens or voters, but they do the work in the rather recent large Xmas Tree plantations, and a few other industries that need cheap labor. There is some significant conflict between the largely white and Protestant, appalachian population, and the Catholic, Hispanic newcomers.

If Allen's words are to have electorial meaning, they need transporting to N. Virginia which now has a rather substantial Foreign Born population -- Vietnam, India, Afghanistan, and Hispanic -- and to Southside, where the African American population is, in some counties, the majority. I don't know precisely how Webb takes advantage, but that is where the target audiences would be located.

[emptywheel]

~pocket

I think there is some evidence Macaca is not only a French slur for North Africans, but it is one that has passed into the far right here.

[emptypockets]

oh, yeah. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. I just think etymology is interesting -- completely aside from politics.

[bugsy]

hmmmmm....
macaco, macaca, macaque = all racial slurs is portuguese, spanish, french, italian,
and all the creole dialects of the first three = translates as monkey
used to refer to ethnicities such as africans, arabs, indians, chinese, japanese, and
even natives of south america, from about the 15th century till present days
the portuguese nuances of this racial term as applied to humans are definitely meant
to range from derisive all the way to insulting depending on the delivery
although they got that word in africa the portuguese favored the japanese as primary targets of this epithet, followed by indians (asian), and then africans

by the way that guy did not sport a mohawk by any wishful stretch of the imagination, and you'd be hard pressed to say he even had a mullet

disclaimer: i'm portuguese/dutch/chinese -- i speak portuguese, french, spanish, and a
wee bit of english: calling someone macaca in any of these languages is just fuckin rude,
you know, like nigger is in english, regardless of the style of haircut they're sporting

[SaltinWound]

The foul-mouthed fantasticsam seems to be under the mistaken impression that he's landed in a pro-Israeli hotbed.

[Daniel DiRito]

The offensive remarks made by Senator George Allen have all the makings of a Dick Wadhams campaign. Wadhams cut his political teeth in Colorado and has been seen as the person behind the rise of Senator Wayne Allard, a Colorado veterinarian. Wadhams went on to orchestrate the campaign against Tom Daschle in South Dakota and is now leading Allen's reelection effort.

Dick Wadhams is a man many have called Karl Rove's protégé. During Wadhams work in Colorado for Senator Wayne Allard's 2002 reelection, he gave one of the most acerbic victory speeches I have ever witnessed. While gloating at the defeat of Ted Strickland, his comments were vile and hateful. The man is Karl Rove absent a scintilla of decorum and decency...if you can imagine that! It appears that George Allen believes that two bullies are better than one.

Read full article here:

www.thoughttheater.com">http://www.thoughttheater.com/2006/08/allen_wadhams_bully_bully.php">www.thoughttheater.com

[knut wicksell]

It's very scary, if you pair your post with one that appeared yesterday on DKos concerning a Texas political rally. It indicates a fairly deep (how large we don't know) constituency that responds readily and enthusiastically to Nazi-like rhetoric. I'm obviously not saying that Allen or the Texas Rep are neo-nazi's. I'm saying that the body of insecure persons who respond to that rhetoric may be large enough to be dangerous under some conditions. It would take a significant economic and an unexplained military defeat to cause that constituency to grow. That's exactly what worries me.

[Dismayed]

Don't know where I saw it, but today I read clips from a book about Allen by his sister. She tells of his history as the worst sort of bully. There is no excuse for what he did. This IS Mr. Allen. He has no business in public office, yet he is a perfect example of the true face of modern Republicanism. Narrow minded, simple, selfish, bullies.

[Dismayed]

Found the story. It was on Huffington - a must read. Here's the link --- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/08/16/gop-senator-george-allen_n_27382.html

[Susan]

Jeesh, I knew he was a pinhead judging from his performances on C-Span committee airings, but this is disgusting, and I'm not completely sure this isn't just plain old juvenile, immature playing to the crowd type verbal diarhea. Definitely not senarorial material. Glad I'm a Virginia voter!

[Sandy Haig]

Allen went to high school in my hometown in Southern California. He had a reputation there as a rabid outspoken racist. Allen hated black people. At least one girlfriend we know dropped him because of this obnoxious trait. High school classmates of George Felix Allen please come forward!

[QuickSilver]

His body language is worth a dissertation, too.

Frankly, I think this will stick to Allen for the rest of his political career. And it should.

[emptywheel]

knut

Yup, that's what I'm thinking.

[Meteor Blades]

Yes, emptywheel, the hooting that went on during that little baiting session put me in mind of something I never saw in my few years in the South, but heard plenty about: a prelude to a lynching. Not, obviously, that they would have gone so far in 2006. But the spirit was much the same.

[emptywheel]

Again, yes, MB, that's what I was thinking. Just one woman instigated it, it seems. But Allen sure knew how to feed it and turn it into his own.

[Kagro X]

Side question: How damned stupid do you have to be to race-bait a guy who's been sent there to videotape you?

[emptywheel]

I have never ever had my basic assumption--that Allen is BY FAR the stupidest of all Senators--even been questioned. I don't see a reason to start questioning now.

[jonnybutter]

the press sees a moral equivalency between this and...

Already happened in Slate. In typical vaguely passive-aggressive 'raging moderate' fashion, John Dickerson effectively equated the Allen thing with Biden's remark:

Republicans and Democrats seem to have launched the first contest of the 2008 presidential campaign season: which candidate can be more boobish on the topic of people of Indian descent living in America. First, Joe Biden had a go, suggesting you couldn't go into a Dunkin Donuts or 7-Eleven without an Indian accent. Now it's Virginia Sen. George Allen's turn.

I make no apology for Biden's dumb remark, but it hardly is the same as what Allen did. Racism is not 'boobish'.

Interestingly, Dickerson rages (moderately) on that Allen is not really dumb (if true, does that make this incident better or worse?):

Allen is a former governor and serves on the Senate foreign relations committee, which has a reputation for serious thought. He graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia, from which he also holds a law degree. He's no dummy. But sometimes the facts don't much matter.

Gee, I hope that I can grow up to be as wise as Dickerson someday! Sometimes facts don't matter! It's the teevee age! Dang! I have often called Allen a moron, but, hey, getting decent grades in college is a sure sign that you are not a fool (right?), and, more importantly, the Senate FR commitee has a reputation for serious thought!

Pun-dip-shittery rules: 1.) ignore the obvious and 2.) be subtly (or not so subtly) overweening.

Shorter Dickerson: Allen was merely being a boob but he's not really a boob, but people might forever think he is a boob because of YouTube and...television. There now; run along.

[orionATL]

i would not read a whole lot into an association between the crowd response to allen and the people of sw virgina.

those "people" include some very independent and smart small businessmen and farmers, some coal miners of "foreign" (mostly polish and czech) origin, and they include the students and faculty of virginia tech.

i can tell you for certain that this kind of comment by allen does not resound in all the hearts and minds of sw virginia.

but yes, throughout the south, there are the copy-cat confederates - the young people, mostly men, who feel they need to identify with some cause as lost and loathed as they are.

that is a matter for economics and education as well as condemnation.

and, for the record, allen was using a well-known north african pejorative for blacks. josh marshal's site says that allen's mother was french-tunisian. there is not doubt in my mind that allen knew what he was doing. but i doubt many in the crowd had even the foggiest idea of the meaning of that word - "macaca".

from youth to old age i have lived much of my life in the tennessee-virgina mountain country. i have never heard the word "macaca" used in discussions of race, or anything else.

it is also the case, historically, that these mountain people were the most resistant to southern, slavery-based economics and politics of any in the south.

that does not mean there are no contemporary racists in the tenn/s.w. va area, but race has not been an issue there in the past because there are few blacks there.

but

there are lots of hispanics there now. in places i would never have expected them to be.

that, i would guess, is what allen was "referring" to -

just "furriners" with brown skins; just hispanics; jut outsiders.

i suspect this incident would be best understood as a message to southern whites in the appalachians who are concerned about hispanic immigrants in their communities.

nothing more mischievous; nothing less mischievous.

[SaltinWound]

Graduated with distinction? What does that mean? I assume if he graduated with honors, they would say so. Distinction? Is that an academic term?