VA 2006 Senate Debate: on Civil Rights

George Allen: Using “macaca” was a mistake, but not intended as an insult

This fellow here-over here in the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is, he’s with my opponent. And let’s give a welcome to macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.

ALLEN: I made a mistake. I said things thoughtlessly. I’ve apologized for it, as well I should. But there was no racial or ethnic intent to slur anyone. If I had any idea that that word was an insult, I would never do it, because it’s contrary to what I believe and who I am.

Q: Well, where’d the word come from?

ALLEN: Oh, it’s just made up.

Q: You’d never heard it before?

ALLEN: Never heard it before.

George Allen: In 1984, opposed MLK holiday; in 1993, honored Confederacy

ALLEN: There are a lot of things that I wish I had learned earlier in life. I grew up in a football family, and those teams taught me a lot. And one of the things that you learn in football is that you don’t care about someone’s race or ethnicity or religion, it’s a meritocracy, it’s a level playing field, and it’s what we should aspire to in our society. And that’s why I’ve always been advocating, making sure America and Virginia’s a land of opportunity for all. Through the years I’ve learned and I’ve grown. I wish I had had these experiences earlier in life, because I would have made decisions differently.

George Allen: Kept Confederate imagery in Governor’s office; for heritage

ALLEN: On the Confederate flag-as a kid, I was rebellious, anti-establishment, I still am. And I looked at the flag as a symbol for that.

Q: But you were governor.

ALLEN: I look at the flag as heritage and as regional pride. But I’ve also seen, over the years, talking and listening and learning and growing, that that flag, to African-Americans, represents repression, segregation and violence against them. And I would never want to have anything to insult or offend someone, and so that’s why I would not be utilizing that flag, because that’s not who I am, and I would never want to have that image or harmful impact on fellow human beings who I want to make sure are part of team America, because we do need to compete much better against countries in six and seven times our population

James Webb: Affirmative action should apply to African-Americans only

WEBB: My view on affirmative action has been and remains that it’s a 13th Amendment program. If you go back to the Johnson administration’s executive order on affirmative action, it was based on the 13th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, designed to remove the badges of slavery. African-Americans are the only ethnic group in this country that have suffered from deliberate discrimination and, and exclusion by the government over generations. When this program expanded to the present day diversity programs, where essentially every ethnic group other than Caucasians are included, then that becomes state-sponsored racism. And we should either move this program back to its original intent, which I support, or we should open up diversity programs to the point where poor white cultures have some opportunity.