A Big Pile Of Macaca
Monday, August 14th, 2006
We love Sen. George Allen’s “tell it like it is” spirit on so many issues, like the way he called University of Virginia student S.R. Sidarth “Macaca” at a campaign rally and welcomed him to America. That’s the sort of leadership this country needs. But what does Macaca mean? It’s not an Hindi word, that’s for sure. “I’ve never heard of it,” said Vicky Singh, server at Heritage India restaurant on Connecticut Ave. in DC, and a bona fide Indian himself. It’s not Pakistani or Bangaladeshi, either. “It might be something in Urdu, but not in Hindi,” said Singh. OK, it’s possible Sen. Allen is one of America’s 350,000 Urdu speakers. But maybe he meant something else.
We love Sen. George Allen’s “tell it like it is” spirit on so many issues, like the way he called University of Virginia student S.R. Sidarth “Macaca” at a campaign rally and welcomed him to America. That’s the sort of leadership this country needs. But what does Macaca mean? It’s not an Hindi word, that’s for sure. “I’ve never heard of it,” said Vicky Singh, server at Heritage India restaurant on Connecticut Ave. in DC, and a bona fide Indian himself. It’s not Pakistani or Bangaladeshi, either. “It might be something in Urdu, but not in Hindi,” said Singh. OK, it’s possible Sen. Allen is one of America’s 350,000 Urdu speakers. But maybe he meant something else.
