"Hey let's all welcome Macaca to America, welcome to the real world of Virginia."
There has been a lot of speculation as to what Macaca means, is it a monkey? A haircut? Guess what, it doesn't matter.
"Hey there Ching Chang." That's what I used to get. Or whatever Dumbass made up words that a racist mind could think of.
"Wazzup Hong Fong." Google that. Does it have a root somewhere in Tunisian?
The vocabulary of racism for Asians is not something set into stone, or in dictionaries. It is whatever words that a group of racists use to demean someone who is different than they are. They make the words up. They have always made the words up.
"I don't know what Macaca is...So it can't be racist."
Let's assume for the sake of argument that George Allen really did not know what he was saying. This is where the truth of his racism is. He pointed to a man with dark skin, a man born and raised in America, made up a word, and welcomed him to America. This is the key to Asian Racism.
We all know Afro-Racism. We all know most of the vocabulary. We know Latino Racism, that vocabulary is pretty much set as well.
Asian Racism, well that's different. Men like George Allen have tons of fun with it. Asian racial slurs are made up on the spot, that's half the challenge.
Asian Racist slurs are the "Mad Libs" of the Ku Klux Klan. It's about what you can make up on the spot, rhyming, staccato, so long as it clearly isn't a real word. That's the thing about Asian Racism, the vocabulary changes every time a Racist opens their mouth.
That's what happened to S.R. Siddarth. Text book Asian Racism. George Allen Made up a word, used it to identify an Asian Man, and welcomed him to America.
Somebody points at me, makes up a word, and welcomes me to America (I'm born and bred red, white, and blue). That's when I start Swinging. Because that is how Asian Racism works.
There is a lot of confusion if you're not Asian, about how Racism works in this regard. Often the "Afro-Racism" model is used to identify it. If it doesn't fit that model then you're not sure if it is Racism or not. I see lots of folks taking a step back, and not hammering Allen like he deserves. The confusion is understandable, as Afro-Racism is the predominant form in our country.
But whatever you do, have no fucking doubt in your mind as to what George Allen did.
George Allen used Asian Racism, in its most common form. It's not a distant Tunisian/French, learned from a distant relative--whatever...
It was Text book Asian Racism. He made up a word on the Spot to demean an Asian Man. This is how Racism works for Asians, and how it has always been used on me.