lilithu
The Devil's Advocate
I've been waiting for someone to bring this up on RF and am surprised there's not been a peep. You guys are usually so on the ball with political events.
I mean wikipedia has already got an entry on it.
from wiki:
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Macaca (also written as macaque) is a dismissive epithet used by Francophone colonials in Africa for native populations of North and Subsaharan Africans.[1] It is also sometimes used as a code word in the White Power Movement, to refer to blacks and other non-Caucasians.[2] It is derived from the name of the genus comprised of the macaque primates.
Macaca and the George Allen Campaign Incident
The epithet gained wider attention as the result of an August 11, 2006, incident in the Virginia senate campaign in which Republican Senator George Allen, during a campaign event, specifically singled out a volunteer, S.R. Sidarth, with the opposition campaign of James H. Webb, because he was videotaping[10] the event as reconnaissance for the Webb campaign. Allen used the word twice to refer to Sidarth. While Sidarth is Virginia-born and raised, his heritage is Indian-American and the remarks ignited a controversy.
Immediately following his second description of Sidarth as "Macaca", Allen said, "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia", highlighting Sidarth's race and national background. Allen has stated that he did not intend the remark as a slur, while his campaign suggested the word was a play on mohawk [11]. However, Sidarth said that his hairstyle was not a mohawk, but a mullet. Moreover, by Allen's own admission, his mother is a French colonial, born in Tunisia, who emigrated to the United States following World War II.[12]
Given the French penchant to use this epithet on people of color and given George Allen's mother's Tunisan French pedigree, it becomes almost impossible to ignore the fact that Allen knew exactly what the word meant when he used it. This then, begs the question that if indeed racial, then does Allen restrict its usage only to Indians or could this slur be used by him on other colored races in different circumstances. Arguably, Allen could use the same slight on all people of African and Asian heritage. There is a growing discussion in the African American community on this subject. Already aware of the "monkey" related slurs that African soccer players were recently subjected to in Europe, the community is asking whether this usage is now also going to become common in America thanks to the Francophile George Allen who apparently has imported the worse aspects of French behaviour into the Country.
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If you want to see the actual video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9G7gq7GQ71c
The article from the Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081400589.html
I'll just say that I know that racism is still alive and kicking in the U.S. (look at Katrina), but I thought that we had at least gotten to the point where it had been driven underground - where politicians would not be able to get away with such remarks. But a lot of people are speculating that not only are they getting away with them, they're getting votes because of them.
I mean wikipedia has already got an entry on it.
from wiki:
----------------------------------------
Macaca (also written as macaque) is a dismissive epithet used by Francophone colonials in Africa for native populations of North and Subsaharan Africans.[1] It is also sometimes used as a code word in the White Power Movement, to refer to blacks and other non-Caucasians.[2] It is derived from the name of the genus comprised of the macaque primates.
Macaca and the George Allen Campaign Incident
The epithet gained wider attention as the result of an August 11, 2006, incident in the Virginia senate campaign in which Republican Senator George Allen, during a campaign event, specifically singled out a volunteer, S.R. Sidarth, with the opposition campaign of James H. Webb, because he was videotaping[10] the event as reconnaissance for the Webb campaign. Allen used the word twice to refer to Sidarth. While Sidarth is Virginia-born and raised, his heritage is Indian-American and the remarks ignited a controversy.
Immediately following his second description of Sidarth as "Macaca", Allen said, "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia", highlighting Sidarth's race and national background. Allen has stated that he did not intend the remark as a slur, while his campaign suggested the word was a play on mohawk [11]. However, Sidarth said that his hairstyle was not a mohawk, but a mullet. Moreover, by Allen's own admission, his mother is a French colonial, born in Tunisia, who emigrated to the United States following World War II.[12]
Given the French penchant to use this epithet on people of color and given George Allen's mother's Tunisan French pedigree, it becomes almost impossible to ignore the fact that Allen knew exactly what the word meant when he used it. This then, begs the question that if indeed racial, then does Allen restrict its usage only to Indians or could this slur be used by him on other colored races in different circumstances. Arguably, Allen could use the same slight on all people of African and Asian heritage. There is a growing discussion in the African American community on this subject. Already aware of the "monkey" related slurs that African soccer players were recently subjected to in Europe, the community is asking whether this usage is now also going to become common in America thanks to the Francophile George Allen who apparently has imported the worse aspects of French behaviour into the Country.
----------------------------------------
If you want to see the actual video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9G7gq7GQ71c
The article from the Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081400589.html
I'll just say that I know that racism is still alive and kicking in the U.S. (look at Katrina), but I thought that we had at least gotten to the point where it had been driven underground - where politicians would not be able to get away with such remarks. But a lot of people are speculating that not only are they getting away with them, they're getting votes because of them.
I wouldn't be able to stomach it.
