Fourth-year Engineering student S.R. Sidarth found himself at the center of a political controversy sparked by comments U.S. Sen. George Allen directed at him at a campaign event.
Sidarth, a campaign volunteer for Allen's opponent, Democrat Jim Webb, was singled out by the senator while he was filming Allen's speech.
"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is," Allen said, pointing to Sidarth. He added, "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."
Since Sidarth is of Indian decent, controversy has arisen over the fact that many feel the comments could have been racially motivated.
Macaca "is a word used in French [as a] synonym for 'dirty Arab,'" said Jeffrey Feldman, Editor-in-Chief of Frameshop, a Web site that writes about the meaning of language and framing in political debate.
In his research Feldman also found white supremacist Web sites using the word as a synonym for the other racial epithet.
Questions have arisen as to whether Allen was aware of the meaning of the word "macaca." Bill Bozin, a spokesperson for Allen, said the senator intended it as a made-up nickname.
"Some of the staff had been calling the camera man [Sidarth] 'Mohawk.' It was a play off that," said Bozine.
Allen also released a statement saying, "I never want to embarrass or demean anyone and I apologize if my comments offended this young man."
However, Feldman explained Allen's mother was raised in France and French Tunisia so Allen very likely would be aware of its derogatory meaning.
"It's completely plausible that Allen was familiar with the term as a 'not nice term,'" Feldman said.
Politics Prof. Larry Sabato said it was impossible to know if Allen fully understood the nature of his comments, but the incident was indicative of his personality.
"Allen was acting as a bully and demonstrating his mean streak," Sabato said. "When we are not on our guard, we sometimes say what is really in our head and heart."
Sidarth told the Washington Post on Tuesday he thought "[Allen] was doing it because he could, and I was the only person of color there, and it was useful for him in inciting his audience,"He added that he was "annoyed that [Allen] would use [his] race in a political context."
Allen is also a potential Republican candidate in the next presidential race, according to Sabato.
While Sabato said it was too early to estimate the effect the comments would have on the Senate race, he thought they may play a bigger role in the presidential race.
"These comments will seriously damage his chances to become president of the United States and that's what's really important," Sabato said. "This is just a taste of the scrutiny Geroge Allen has coming."
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