As you already know, Senator Allen put his foot in his mouth by calling an American Citizen a "Macaca". He claimed that it was not a racist slur and he meant no harm.
Well... Senator Allen was wrong on both counts.
First off... Monkeys are a general racial slur used by White Europeans to insult Dark-Skinned People of African descent. The slur can be used against both Blacks and Middle-Eastern people. "Monkey Chants" are quite common in European Football Games and may have been a factor in Football Player Zidan's famous headbutt during the World Cup.
http://www.usatoday.com/...
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""I've been harassed while in a car, punched in face, heard monkey chants," Onyewu says matter-of-factly. Onyewu has played in France and Belgium the last four years but says this is the first season he has experienced such overt racism."
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Its important to note that few Europeans actually use the word "Monkeys". What they do is imitate that chimp in Tarzan movies. As such, the Monkey Slur has no defined name and can be referred to differently in other regions.
Now... isn't it interesting that "Macaca" is a species of Monkey?