Macaca (#199, Topic A)

Yesterday's Washington Post carries a front-page story on a Republican senator, in a reelection campaign before 100+ of his supporters last Friday, publicly addressed a volunteer for his opponent as a macaca. According to WP, a macaca is "either a monkey that inhibits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa." Since the volunteer, a 20-year old senior at the state's leading university (and one of the "25 New Ivies" in Newsweek 8/25/06), came from India, the senator apparently meant the former. And he used the term not once, not twice, but many times. Since the 100+ in the audience were all European-Americans -- WP described the audience at "lily white" -- each time the senator uttered the word, the audience laughed, evidently wanting more. Encouraged, the senator added: "Welcome to America and the real world of Virigina." Exactly what this sentence means is unclear. The first three words, Welcome to America, can, it seems to me, be uttered by native Americans only -- after all, European-Americans were immigrants at one time. As to the real world of Virginia -- on other occasions the senator used the term Virginia value --, it is a coded reference to good old days when slavery was cherished, and "lily white" was a matter of course. Today's WP, in a follow-up story, added that the senator had "a youthful admiration of the Confederate flag" -- but, in preparation for running as a presidential candidate in 2008, had "introduced symbolic anti-lynching legislation in the senate and promised to lead the charge for an official apology for slavery." Now, his true color is showing -- WP's headline says: "[Senator's name] Tries to Minimize Damage From Remarks." I always know that, despite my 50+ years residency in USA, I am merely tolerated. When chips are down, when our hosts (meaning native-bor European-Americans) show their true colors, I expect to be ridiculed and publicly embarrassed, as the senator did to this volunteer with some 10 years of residency in the senator's home state.