Macaca

Well if this isn't a telling moment:

Democrat James Webb's Senate campaign accused Sen. George Allen (R) of making demeaning comments Friday to a 20-year-old Webb volunteer of Indian descent.

S.R. Sidarth, a senior at the University of Virginia, had been trailing Allen with a video camera to document his travels and speeches for the Webb campaign. During a campaign speech Friday in Breaks, Virginia, near the Kentucky border, Allen singled out Sidarth and called him a word that sounded like "Macaca."

"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. We're going to places all over Virginia, and he's having it on film and its great to have you here and you show it to your opponent because he's never been there and probably will never come."

After telling the crowd that Webb was raising money in California with a "bunch of Hollywood movie moguls," Allen again referenced Sidarth, who was born and raised in Fairfax County.

"Lets give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia," said Allen, who then began talking about the "war on terror."

You can see it here, and that's a key point. YouTube is starting to have an effect on political campaigns for just this reason. Years ago, nobody would see this footage. Instead of a he-said, she-said political controversy, everybody in America can now watch Sen. Allen call a nonwhite person "Macaca" in an obvious slur, with the allusion that if you're not white you don't really belong in the country.

In an interview, Sidarth said he suspects Allen singled him out because he was the only non-white face in the audience, which he estimated included about 100 Republican supporters.

"I think he was doing it because he could and I was the person of color there and it was useful for him in inciting his audience," said Sidarth. "I was annoyed he would use my race in a political context."

This is not the first time Senator Allen has gotten into trouble with issues of race and ethnicity. He is a relic of the Nixonian Southern strategy of race-baiting that has been the undercurrent of every Republican campaign in the South since. It's 2006 and we still have to deal with this crap. Thanks to technology and distributed knowledge, we have the evidence, too.

Support Jim Webb for Senate and say no to race-baiting and identity politics in America.