Teammates: George Allen used "N-word" in college

[chat_noir]

Sept. 24, 2006 | WASHINGTON -- Three former college football teammates of Sen. George Allen say that the Virginia Republican repeatedly used an inflammatory racial epithet and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks during the early 1970s.

"Allen said he came to Virginia because he wanted to play football in a place where 'blacks knew their place,'" said Dr. Ken Shelton, a white radiologist in North Carolina who played tight end for the University of Virginia football team when Allen was quarterback. "He used the N-word on a regular basis back then." A second white teammate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared retribution from the Allen campaign, separately claimed that Allen used the word "nigger" to describe blacks. "It was so common with George when he was among his white friends. This is the terminology he used," the teammate said.

A third white teammate contacted separately, who also spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of being attacked by the Virginia senator, said he too remembers Allen using the word "nigger," though he said he could not recall a specific conversation in which Allen used the term. "My impression of him was that he was a racist," the third teammate said.

Shelton also told Salon that the future senator gave him the nickname "Wizard," because he shared a last name with Robert Shelton, who served in the 1960s as the imperial wizard of the United Klans of America, a group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. The radiologist said he decided earlier this year that he would go public with his concerns about Allen if a reporter ever called. About four months ago, when he heard that Allen was a possible candidate for president in 2008, Shelton began to write down some of the negative memories of his former teammate. He provided Salon excerpts of those notes last week.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/09/24/allen_football/index.html?source=rss

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Better check the help wanted pages pretty quick, Mr. Macaca

The Allen elevator is going down quickly

[razors edge]

2. Can flush this turd yet?

The american outhouse of republican politics is getting a little too ripe.

[Truthiness Inspector]

3. Holy cow

I hope these classmates go public, otherwise the Bushistas will claim it's unfounded.

Thanks for posting this, wow!

[marmar]

4. Where there's smoke...

there's fiery crosses.

:scared:

[tinfoil tiaras]

5. Theres no denying it anymore, Mr. Macaca

You're. Screwed.

We don't care if you came from a football family or not, as if that's relevant to anything.... :roll:

[Bluebear]

6. HE JUST MADE THAT WORD UP!

He would NEVER use that word against people. At the time he was just stringing together nonsensical syllables and he happened to just come up with that word.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. I'm sure he had no idea what it meant.

Being a fine lad of southern stock, and from a football family, as he likes to tell the world.

Goodbye, George. It's over.

[Bluebear]

8. And JUST when he was about to embrace his Jewish heritage...

...and "fight against all sorts of discrimination". Adieu, Senator Macaca.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. He's doing the Lords work simply by destructing himself.

[Bluebear]

14. Indeed.

[Skidmore]

16. Scarborough made a point last week.

I don't watch Scarborough as a rule but my husband was channel surfing one night and just happened to surf by his show. He caught the segment on Allen and his interview with Blitzer on his "discovery" of his Jewish heritage and how he was just trying to protect his mom. Scarborough said that Allen's mother's family was from Tunisia and that he could understand why he would do the interview to "protect his mom" since that is where he possibly learned the word to begin with. Made sense to me. Don't know if it's true, but just thought I'd pass that on.

[zonkers]

10. Good on you, Mr. Shelton. You are a decent, brave man.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

11. 'Allen said he came to Virginia because... "blacks knew their place"' there?

Don't forget, this is a sitting US Senator on whose watch as Governor 24 people were EXECUTED!

[fujiyama]

32. Funny thing is

wasn't VA the only state to elect a black governor? I would have loved to see Allen's reaction when that happened.

I can't believe this piece of shit ever got elected to the senate. I'd have quite a bit more respect for VA if they booted him out. I guess it all depends on the loony southern part which has colleges by Robertson and Falwell.

[AspenRose]

12. He's a piece of work, all right.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2213964

[never_get_over_it]

13. Ever since the macaca story broke

I have seriously wondered what attitude George Allen senior the football coach had towards his black players - you're not born a racist you have to learn it and I wonder if Jr learned it from his daddy and I guess we have a pretty good idea where he learned the word macaca from his mommy - how effing sad and disgusting.

[Bluebear]

15. You've got to be taught to hate.

It has to come from somewhere.

[tanyev]

17. Two former teammates afraid of retribution and attack.

That says quite a bit about Mr. Allen also.

[Strawman]

18. If he had sincerely changed he would not have called that guy macaca

I do believe that people can mature and change and regret past behavior and language, but that very recent incident lends credibility to the charge that his racism is in fact very deep seated as his former teammate alleges. He couldn't resist publicly denigrating a man solely because of his ethnicity, so these kinds of racist schema are still very accessible and top of mind with him. That's a red flag that makes people justifiably skeptical of the sincerity of George Allen's tolerance for others not like him.

[LeahMira]

19. In the early 1970s...

... Virginia still had rules that required race be shown on birth certificates. It was important that those who had even "one drop" of African blood not be given access to the superior facilities available to whites.

Sometimes people don't really take in just how recently civil rights laws were put into place, and the fact that those laws did not pass unanimously. The votes of legislators who opposed affirming equal rights represented thousands of individual citizens who to this day resent these laws and will push the bigotry envelope as far as they can.

[rrasile]

20. He Said What?

Why your MF cracker. I'm going to woop your white ass.

[Marie26]

21. Idiotic racist

I always knew that he was stupid, but didn't know that he was evil too. And this is the Republicans' candidate for 2008? :rofl:

[BlooInBloo]

22. LOL! If *that* disqualifies someonem then there wouldn't be *any*....

... white Presidents! lolol!

[janetle]

23. Allen is the same age as me

He cannot use "youthful indiscretion" as an excuse. His actions in the 70's were unacceptable. If he was like that then, then he is like that now.

Same with the pres.

[williesgirl]

24. Felix is a blight on the human race. Please donate to Webb's campaign

regardless of where you live. Let's get rid of this despicable being from politics permanently. If he loses here in VA, forget any presidential run. Plus we desperately need this repuke Senate seat.

[Glimmer of Hope]

25. It is amazing how he is made it this far without being exposed..

I am sending Webb so $$.

[janetle]

26. A severed head of a deer in someone's mailbox??

Ok, this is just sick and a horribly racist hate crime. People should be making a huge deal out of this--and not just the words he has used.

[Disturbed]

27. This asshole cannot be elected can he?

He now says: "I don't remember ever using that word and it is absolutely false that that was ever part of my vocabulary."

He has opened the possibility that he has used that word but cannot recall if he did or not. Is this a lawyer trick in case a tape surfaces where he is using the word?

[ComerPerro]

28. Limbaugh was bitching about this story today, and I had to laugh

He kept complaining about how "only a few people who remembered Allen remembered him using racial slurs or displaying a racist attitude. Most others either don't remember him doing that or couldn't remember either way. But the drive-by media keeps promoting what these two or three guys are saying without giving the other perspecitve that a majority feels".


All I could think was:


HAHA! Allen, you dumb fuck, you're being Swiftboated!

[civildisoBDence]

30. So you think it's OK if people are lying about Allen to undermine him?

Me too!!!

Newsprism

[ComerPerro]

31. I don't think they are lying, but, after the Swiftboaters,

I don't give a fuck if they are lying about Allen or not.

[svbackstreets]

29. Any Racists in Virginia?

I can't believe that a majority of the voters in Virginia are consciously racist and how could anyone but a racist vote for Allen? He's gotta be toast.

[Divine Discontent]

33. I can't believe there's a majority who are conciously racist either

just maybe 2/5...

so Webb will squeek this one out! YAY! (and isn't that sad that'll Allen will still get 45%, unless even MORE crap comes out on him, then put him in the high 30's)


oh, almost forgot -

WELCOME TO DU, svbackstreets! :hi: