The
New York Times has picked up the story on George Allen's use of the n-word which ran in Salon last night, and added some additional corroboration, beyond the three UVA football teammates who were quoted in that piece:
Christopher Taylor, an anthropology professor at Alabama University in Birmingham, Ala., said that in the early 1980's he heard Mr. Allen use an inflammatory epithet for African Americans. Mr. Taylor, who is white and was then a graduate student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said the term came up in a conversation about the turtles in a pond near Mr. Allen's property. According to Mr. Taylor, Mr. Allen said that "around here" only the African Americans -- whom he referred to by the epithet -- "eat `em."
...snip...
Mr. Taylor, the Alabama professor, said he was "kind of taken aback" by Mr. Allen's language because it was their first meeting and Mr. Allen knew he was talking to a graduate student in anthropology. "Most of us are antiracist," Mr. Taylor said.
Still, Mr. Taylor said, he did not give Mr. Allen "a moral lesson." Mr. Taylor said he had come to pick up an Australian shepherd puppy and left with the dog.
The fact that this new source is referring to an incident with Senator Allen in the early 1980s weakens the argument that this was a youthful indiscretion. This wasn't just an immature college kid who eventually wised up -- it was an ongoing pattern of behavior.
As has already been diaried, but it bears mentioning again since it didn't make the recommended list, Larry Sabato said on Hardball this evening that "he did use the n-word, whether he's denying it now or not." Several people have posted excerpts on YouTube, but it's worth watching the entire thing, as Sabato claims to have additional corroboration beyond the people mentioned in the Salon piece, which isn't surprising, since he and George Allen were classmates at UVA -- Class of 1974.
Update: I see Kos picked up the Hardball video. The stuff about Mr. Taylor, though, is new within the last hour or so, broke on the NYT and The New Republic
Update Deux: I'm told that the New Republic piece has more detail than what the NYT ran. It requires a subscription, which I don't have, but if anyone could post relevant excerpts in the comments, that would be appreciated, and if you do so before 11 PM EST, I'll update the diary with it.
Update Trois:
The New Republic piece by Ryan Lizza clarifies how the anthropology professor (Chris Taylor), who was a grad student then, got involved:
Taylor told his account of Allen's use of the N-word in a private email to a UVA colleague last month. The email was recently obtained by The New Republic. Taylor confirmed the authenticity of the email and reluctantly agreed to speak on the record about the incident.
The email from him which is quoted said:
I met him twice actaully [sic]. I did two modelling [sic] jobs with his then wife and she told me about some puppies they were trying to give away. I told her I'd like to take one. So one evening I went out to their place in the country near [Charlottesville] somewhere. There was a pond quite close by. I asked if they had any waterfowl landing there. George told me about the ducks and geese that sometimes landed there and about the ducks who tried to raise their young but who would have them all devoured by the big turtles in the pond. Well, why doesn't someone kill the turtles and eat them? I asked. George said 'only the niggers around here eat em.
Thanks to Maracuja for providing the additional details from the TNR piece.