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Senator apologises for racist remarks

Republican Senator George Allen singled SR Sidarth out of a crowd of over 100 and called him “macaca" during a campaign speech.

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WASHINGTON,DC: Twenty-year-old University of Virginia engineering student SR Sidarth was video-taping incumbent Republican Senator George Allen’s campaign speech when the politician singled him out of a crowd of over 100 and called him “macaca”, a veiled reference to a Macaque, a type of monkey found in Asia. He has since apologized saying he did not know the meaning of the word “macaca”.

The Senator for Virginia, a neighbouring state of the nation’s capital Washington, was giving a speech in southwest part of the state when he repeatedly called Sidarth a macaca. He said, “This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He is following us around everywhere. And it’s just great.”

At this point, his supporters began to laugh. Allen then again referred to Sidarth by the same epithet, saying, “Let’s give a welcome to macaca here. Welcome to America, and the real world of Virginia.”

A report in the Washington Post said that, according to websites that track ethnic slurs, macaca is considered a racial slur against African immigrants in some European cultures. The newspaper also wrote a scathing editorial against Allen and  referred to Sidarth as a student with an “excellent academic record”. 

Sidarth told the Washington Post, “I think he was doing it because he could, and I was the person of colour there and it was useful for him in inciting his audience. I am disgusted he would use my race in a political context.”

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