Despite facing allegations of racial insensitivity during his 2006 re-election campaign, U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., continues to draw support from some African-Americans — particularly for his support of historically Black colleges and universities.
Seeking his second Senate term after serving as governor of Virginia, Allen is in a tight re-election race with Democrat Jim Webb, a former Secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan who switched party allegiances due to his opposition to the war in Iraq. Polls show the two candidates in a virtual tie weeks before the Nov. 7 election.
Allen came under fire for using the word “macaca” to describe a Webb operative — a 20-year-old University of Virginia student of Indian descent — who was shadowing the senator’s campaign. After several days of fierce criticism, Allen apologized to the student for using the word, which describes a type of monkey and is viewed as a racial epithet in some countries.
Since that incident, several of Allen’s former college football teammates at UVa have come forward to say that Allen regularly used the “n-word” during his days at the university in the early 1970s. Allen has denied making the comments.
Even with the stumbles, however, Allen continues to draw some support in the African-American community, and the senator prominently cites his support for HBCUs.
“I am grateful that the George Allen of 2006 is the same friend and ardent supporter that he has been to HBCUs over these many years,” says Virginia Sen. Benjamin J. Lambert III, a Democrat who has endorsed Allen.
Lambert says the senator has made mistakes but is a lawmaker sensitive to the needs of African-Americans. The state lawmaker says he supports Allen for re-election because Allen has “delivered on [his] promises to support Virginia’s historically Black colleges and universities.”
