UPDATE: Matthews acknowledged Allen's mother's North African ties while discussing "macaca" controversy
Many media figures who have reported Sen. George Allen's claim not to know what the term "macaca" means have omitted the fact that Allen's mother grew up in North Africa. However, on the August 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, Chris Matthews acknowledged the role her background may have played in Allen's use of the word, which, as a racial slur, reportedly originated in North Africa.
Prompted by The New Republic's Ryan Lizza during the August 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews suggested that Senator George F. Allen's (R-VA) mother's ties to the North African nation of Tunisia might explain how Allen came to use the derogatory term "macaca" to describe one of his opponent's campaign volunteers. As Media Matters for America noted, while the word's use as a slur originates in North Africa, many media figures who reported Allen's claim not to know what the term means -- including Matthews, during the August 15 edition of Hardball -- left out the fact that Allen's mother grew up in Tunisia, a former French colony in North Africa, as Allen himself has repeatedly noted in the past. However, discussing the incident on the August 16 edition of Hardball, Lizza noted: "[T]he interesting twist on all of this is his mom is French Tunisian, and this is a word that's used in North Africa." Matthews responded: "I think it's a term that is not so unfamiliar to people" and seemed to agree with Lizza's suggestion that Allen may have known what the term meant, stating: "Well, I can understand why he doesn't want to say, 'Mommy taught me this word.' "
From a discussion among Matthews, Lizza, and Washington Times columnist John McCaslin on the August 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:
MATTHEWS: Up next, another apology from 2008 presidential hopeful George Allen after calling a rival campaign worker a macaca. You're watching Hardball on MSNBC.
[commercial break]
ALLEN [video clip]: So welcome. Let's give a welcome to Macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.
MATTHEWS: That's going to haunt that guy. That's Republican Senator George Allen of Virginia calling a rival campaign worker a macaca. Here to assess the damage is The Washington Times' John McCaslin and The New Republic's Ryan Lizza. Ryan Lizza, you broke some stories before about George Allen. What were they?
LIZZA: The biggest news in this piece I wrote was this spring was that -- his relationship with the Confederate flag. I mean, the strangest thing is it goes all the way back to high school. He wore a Confederate flag lapel pin in his high school picture.
MATTHEWS: Does this fit?
LIZZA: So it's a pattern here.
MATTHEWS: What's the pattern?
LIZZA: The pattern is insensitivity on race and intolerance and a guy that just doesn't really get it.
MATTHEWS: Macaca, from what I understand, John, is a term used by the Algerians and the other French people who lived in northern Africa when they were living up there and colonizing the place, that they used against the local Arabs, north Africans.
McCASLIN: Right, right. And I once chased a macaca around South Africa on a safari one time, which Americans spend a lot of money to do. So it's also --
MATTHEWS: You mean a monkey?
McCASLIN: -- a term for a monkey in South Africa.
MATTHEWS: Well, what's this about, here?
McCASLIN: I think it's about --
MATTHEWS: Is this Howard Cosell again, or what is it?
McCASLIN: I don't think this is going to go away, if you're getting to that. I think that the media is going to slowly pick up on it in a time when there's a lot of other stories happening.
MATTHEWS: He's saying he was referring to the guy's haircut, not his ethnicity, even though he said, "Welcome to America," and the guy's a citizen.
LIZZA: The latest excuse that they leaked today is that he didn't say "macaca," he didn't call him a monkey, he called him an s-"you know what"-head. That he put together the word "mohawk" and "caca." And they were calling him --
MATTHEWS: Caca means crap.
LIZZA: Exactly. And they were calling him a --
MATTHEWS: A craphead?
LIZZA: Exactly. So that's his first --
MATTHEWS: Why they are struggling against admitting that it's a racial term, or ethnic term, right?
LIZZA: Right. They're saying he didn't know what it was. I mean, the interesting twist on all this is his mom is French Tunisian. And this is a word that's used in North Africa to describe --
MATTHEWS: We just had Shimon Peres here, the longtime great man of Israel. He knew the term.
LIZZA: Is that right?
MATTHEWS: Oh, yeah.
LIZZA: That's fascinating, then.
MATTHEWS: I think it's a term that is not so unfamiliar to people.
LIZZA: Look, he grew up in a house where his mom spoke five languages. It's not a big leap of the imagination to think that he --
MATTHEWS: Well, I can understand why he doesn't want to say, "Mommy taught me this word."
McCASLIN: And a very outspoken mother at that. I reviewed the book in 2000 that George Allen's sister Jennifer wrote, and I know Ryan wrote about it just this last April. She's a very outspoken lady.
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...temp is rising in AllenLand.
Fess up, Georgie. You're an imperfect man, but that's no crime. Fess up and get some help. Racism has gripped your joystick. You've got a lot of work to do if you're going to get racism to release its grip.
Maybe you can elicit Jesse Jackson's help in overcoming the use of racial slurs.
I admitted to one of my many failings in yesterday's Allen thread. Adults concede error. It's how we advance. Those that can't concede error repeat their mistakes ad nauseam.
The public needs to give permission for public figures to apologize. Otherwise, we're left with mini-men like Allen with their greasy apologies. Actually, Allen isn't an adult. He's not even a mini-version. He's a child and a petulant one, one who will say anything to avoid censure. But it isn't working. He's already censured. Alas, because he hasn't the courage to concede error, he'll be caught again with his hand in the racism jar.
you're beating your head against a wall trying to talk reason with rethuglicans. It seems they have become infested with gay bashing, insulting white supremacists. Examples:
[link to www.rawstory.com]
[link to www.redstate.com]
I think Taz cut and run. As far as all the slurs, I'm thinking that rich white neocons want to reclaim THEIR America when queers were closeted and black Americans were caddies and mammies and Hispanics were south of the border. Is this the Rich White Man's Last Stand, given the shifting demographics in America?
What an idiot . The only problem is this man is going to win. But don't worry at some point he will drop an N bomb and even his local career will be done.
Like Jesse Jackson did, right? What a bunch of whining hypocrites.
I think it was equally deplorable for Jesse Jackson to use that term. Why are you making excuses for such an obvious racist?
and why should I care?
In 1984 while Jesse Jackson was talking to reporters he called Jewish people "Hymies". This is a derrogatory term that he should have never used. I'm not sure why Taz brought it up but I never said I thought Jesse was right for saying it. I think Taz is just an idiot troll. But anyways. You should care about it because it was wrong. However, in the end Jesse apologized and this idiot Senator has not.
who cares about jesse jackson. this story is about a sitting senator. not a black activist. is that far out of the realm of reality for you to admit that a very large part of [this] senator's constituency are ass-scratchin' racists (and fat soccer moms)?
i think it's fairly obvious to anyone who can ascribe to human emotion: senator allen, expecting and apparently aware of who this cameraman was and who he was working for, was unable to contain his emotions and resorted to the only thing his simian jellybrain could think to dribble - racist slurs.
does it make him a racist? yes. those, like you taz, who are quick to dismiss and folly in transference are as well. and now, senator allen is a liar too.
feel sorry for the Republicacans.
it is amazing how so many can't manage their mouths. Or maybe this is another of Karl Rove's plans.
Hey, I just got the memo. They sent it to me by mistake. Here's what Karl wrote: Everyone say something vile until the vile becomes the norm.
Doesn't have anything to do with managing his mouth it has to do with who he IS.
but still, if you should have enough self-awareness to understand that he's a racist and a politician and therefore has the need to manage his mouth.
Black people don't know how to swim...
Imagine that. So glad I have the GOP to keep me informed.
You know what I thought was worst was this man really was not trying to be bigoted. He honestly believes most black people are poor swimmers. I almost feel sorry for the man until I remember he has a position of power. What other things does he assume about black people and why is he assuming them. These people need help.
made him do it !!
I think your copy must have been jammed in an internet tube for the last 5 years.
sure the non-swimming thing was stoopid, but he made up for it when he got to basketball later.Said some very positive things.
Did that part of the video get cut off? Lousy liberal media!
HEY YOU RIGHT-WINGERS WHERE IS ALL THE OUT CRY FOR ALLEN'S COMMENTS LIKE YOU HAD WHEN BIDEN MADE THAT STATEMENT ABOUT ONE OF HIS STAFF MEMBERS, WHICH YOU AND THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA CALLED HIM A RACIST??
I am beginning to understand that Republicans not only greet racism with acceptance, but often approbation. We know that the Republican following can be chipped away at, but the core will always remain, and that core seems to invariably hold basic human inequality as a fundamental belief. Hell, he may gain points in the polls as a result.
Allen, himself, would appear to fall well within this Republican core. If you are born a racist, raisd by racists in a racist environment, most likely you are going to be a racist or at the very least have latent racist tendencies. Despite the feeble attempt by Limbaugh to account for Allen's racist vernacular, the real explanation is quite simple: HE IS INHERENTLY RACIST. What we have here is NOT just some commonly used expression taken out of context and blown out of proportion. Allen is a seasoned politician who has likely worked PR very hard for many years to conceal his racist underbelly. This time, he slipped. "Macaca" is not some word typically bantered around among friends. You have to be pretty deeply entrenched in racist beliefs to have "macaca" slip out inadvertantly.