Was U.S. Sen. George Allen a racist or a well-read Civil War buff when he attended the University as an undergraduate over 30 years ago? Acquaintances paint conflicting portraits of Allen, who was a quarterback on the University football team and was elected senior class president.
The controversy centers largely on Allen's display of a Confederate flag and his alleged routine use of racial epithets to describe minorities. The issue emerged after two teammates went on the record in the past week accusing Allen of such behavior. Four other teammates refuted the allegations yesterday in interviews with The Cavalier Daily.
In 1991, as Allen was running in a special election for the U.S. House of Representatives, several former teammates agreed to a pact not to publicly discuss Allen's past, according to Edward Sabornie, a former football player, self-proclaimed "lifelong liberal Democrat" and pact member. Sabornie said he decided to come forward after Allen publicly dismissed as "ludicrously false" allegations by another former teammate, Ken Shelton, that Allen routinely used the "n word."
"I saw the old George ... that kind of attitude, condescension that I saw is what I remember George being like as an undergraduate," Sabornie said.
Sabornie recalls that Allen commonly used the "n word," also referring to blacks as "roaches" and Latinos as "wetbacks," and prominently displayed a large Confederate flag in the back of his van.
Allen's former athletic trainer, Joe Gieck, said he never witnessed Allen make a racist remark. As for the allegations, Gieck said, "it sounds more like character assassination than anything else. ... Maybe George didn't throw [them] the ball enough. Some of these people have huge egos."
Shelton provided an alternative perspective, saying that many may be afraid to directly oppose Allen because of his considerable political clout.
Former teammate Stanley Land, one of four blacks on the team at the time, said he did not recall Allen ever using the "n word" and said he would have been upset if Allen had done so.
"On the issue of Allen, on the use of racial epithets I do not have any experience or evidence to believe that George committed any acts or remarks against minorities," Land said.
In addition, former teammates George Korte and Charlie Hale have also said they do not recall Allen using racial epithets. Both Korte and Hale developed political connections with Allen after graduation: As governor, Allen appointed Hale to the Virginia Board of Mineral Mine Examiners and Korte's wife to the Social Services Board.
Korte said he believes the allegations against his acquaintance of 35 years constitute a "smear campaign."
Korte and Hale described Allen as a gregarious hunting and fishing partner with a passion for politics and history.
"He was an unbelievable student of history -- everywhere we went we had to stop at battlefields," said Hale, who says he traveled cross-country with Allen in 1976 on a trip that included stops at several Civil War battlefields. "The guy is a walking encyclopedia, telling us all about the politics and the people who fought there."
Sabornie takes a dimmer view of Allen's Civil War penchant and questioned how it might have impacted his black teammates.
"It was clear as the day is long, if you saw George and looked in the van, there hung the Confederate flag," Sabornie said. "I always wondered how they felt about seeing that."
Land also remembered Allen's prominent displays of the Confederate flag.
"In my opinion George was quite demonstrative and insensitive in his display and use of a Confederate flag both in his car and his apartment," Land said. "Does that make him a racist? I guess the answer to that would be no."
Former University Anthropology Prof. Charles Kaut, who was teaching at the time, said he does not recall students commonly displaying Confederate flags nor using racial epithets during Allen's time at the University.
"Race relations were not that much different" than they are now, Kaut said.
However, Korte noted that during this period many high schools in Virginia displayed Confederate flags. He added that he believed Allen's display of the flag stemmed from his belief in limited government and states' rights.
In addition to his fascination with the Confederate flag, Allen, raised in Southern California, adopted southern mannerisms, including spitting chewing tobacco and wearing jeans and boots, recalled former teammate George Beam.
"He was a southern rednecker just like I was," Beam said.
His interest in riding and country music was evidence that he was more of a westerner then a southerner, Hale said, recalling that Allen was nicknamed "Merle" after country singer Merle Haggard.
"It was country when country wasn't cool," Hale said.
During college, Allen primarily embraced his passion for football, not culture, Korte said.
"He was preoccupied by football, not race," Korte said.
Whether Allen was a racist or an educated history buff, a westerner or a southerner at heart, one thing is clear: Allen is attempting to move campaign coverage beyond the race issue.
Allen's campaign announced yesterday that Allen will deliver a two-minute statewide television address tomorrow night designed to "bring this campaign back to where it belongs" by focusing on current issues and the differences between Allen and Democratic Senate contender James Webb.
--Alex Sellinger contributed to this article.
--3:30, Oct. 2: Direct quotes from Stanley Land have been added to this article. -ed.
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