From MoveOn.Org:
At a campaign stop Virginia senator George Allen singled out the only non-white member of the audience–S.R. Sidarth, a young Indian-American volunteering for his opponent–and called him a “macaque” (a racial slur meaning ‘monkey’). He went on to say, “welcome to America,” when in fact, Mr. Sidarth was born and raised in Virginia.
Bigotry has no place in our democracy. The Republican National Committee should withdraw support from Sen. Allen for his behavior.
Republicans have used racism to try to win over voters for decades, but this kind of pandering has absolutely no place in our politics. That’s why we’re standing with Color of Change to ask the Republican National Committee to withdraw support from Sen. Allen. We need to send a strong message that America won’t tolerate bigotry.
Can you sign the petition and add your voice?
Do you want to know what else bothers me about this? Not one Republican has repudiated the statement. John McCain stood up with him, just yesterday, at a town hall meeting.
Again from MoveOn:
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first incident of its kind. Sen. Allen—who’s a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008—has a long history of demeaning minorities. Here are just a few examples of his racial hostility.
- He used to display a noose—hanging from a tree—in his law offices.
- When running for governor he admitted to displaying the confederate flag in his home.
- As governor, he proclaimed April as “Confederate Heritage and History Month” and issued a proclamation calling the civil war “a struggle for independence and sovereign rights” (the statement did not condemn slavery).
- He opposed the creation of a holiday commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.
All of this would be bad enough if Senator Allen were a small-time politician. But he’s running in one of the key Senate races, and currently, he’s ahead.
The media is watching this story closely and you can help show that ordinary Americans are ready to stand up for each other when a powerful man uses race to divide us. Can you sign the petition today?
Find the video of Allen’s bigoted statement here.
An Aging Trans Woman 
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