Jack & Jill Politics

Bill Gibson over at DailyProgress follows the N-Word scandal (hopefully not coming to a cable station near you). Both of the Virginia Senate candidates, Jim Webb and George “Macaca” Allen reportedly used the term back in the 1970s. However, Allen says he never said it. Bill Gibson’s point, and one well worth considering, is to never say never.

Mom taught school in Fairfax and Arlington counties and insisted that when a question includes the word “never,” the wiser course is almost always to reject the never answer.

I think Allen, R-Fairfax County, would not be struggling with a campaign bogged down with as large a bunch of questions about his character and charges of racial insensitivity if he had avoided making a full denial when asked if he had ever used the n-word.

I cannot pretend to be surprised that any white person who was alive in the 1950s, 60s, 70s or even 80s would have referred to black people as niggers. Truth be told, I’m not too surprised when finding those who use the term today. I’m only surprised to find myself in a position of knowing that. More truth be told, I would probably question a man’s whiteness who did not refer to black people as niggers (at least behind their backs) during the 1970s. Just what kind of white man would you be, especially a UVA-attending, quarterbacking, Confederate flag-collecting, noose-displaying-in-your-office one?

That’s because we’re talking about people who were raised by people alive in the 1930s, when “nigger” was about as derogatory to the mainstream as “blue” or “tall.” And we all know how influential parents can be over a child’s vocabulary, if not values. So part of me is actually happy to see that George Allen used the N-word. It makes him human. It confirms his whiteness.

To Gibson’s point, however, I must aggressively agree. Given that white people all over the country were trained to see and refer to Blacks as niggers, for him to say he never said it, is about as believable as him saying he didn’t know what the word macaca meant.

Some lies in the name of political expediency can be forgiven, but when that lie assumes we’re all a bunch of idiots, well that’s just triflin’. Hurry up, and lose already, Senator Allen. I’m tired of your story. Google just bought YouTube, and North Korea is testing nukes! Stop wasting my media consumption budget.