Senator Allen's Racism is Unacceptable
By Nita, Eli, Ben, Wes and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Republican Senator George Allen used a racial slur against a non-white audience member. This kind of bigotry has no place in America. Can you join us in telling the Republican National Committee to take a stand against these tactics and withdraw support for Sen. Allen?
On Aug. 11, Allen sank to a new low. At a campaign stop, the senator singled out the only non-white member of the audience — S.R. Sidarth, a young Indian-American volunteering for his opponent and called him "macaca" (a racial slur meaning 'monkey'). He went on to say, "Welcome to America." As it happens, Sidarth was born and raised in Virginia.
Republicans have used racism to try to win over voters for decades, but this kind of pandering has absolutely no place in our politics. That's why we're standing with Color of Change to ask the Republican National Committee to withdraw support from Allen. We need to send a strong message that America won't tolerate bigotry.
Can you sign the petition and add your voice? You can sign and watch video of the incident on this page.
The sting of Allen's words upset me personally and I'd hoped to see his colleagues in Washington censure him for this display of bigotry. But just yesterday, Sen. John McCain stood with him at a town hall meeting. Race-baiting continues to be a time-tested tradition for the Republican party in the South. And it's got to stop.
This is our opportunity—hundreds of thousands of us standing together will make a major statement to our elected officials and the media. I'll deliver these comments to the Republican National Committee when we reach 250,000 — we're aiming for the end of the week.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first incident of its kind. Allen — who's a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 — has a long history of demeaning minorities. Here are just a few examples of his racial hostility.

He used to display a noose hanging from a tree in his law offices.

When running for governor he admitted to displaying the confederate flag in his home.

As governor, he proclaimed April as "Confederate Heritage and History Month" and issued a proclamation calling the civil war "a struggle for independence and sovereign rights" (the statement did not condemn slavery).

He opposed the creation of a holiday commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.

All of this would be bad enough if Allen were a small-time politician. But he's running in one of the key Senate races and, currently, he's ahead.
The media are watching this story closely and you can help show that ordinary Americans are ready to stand up for each other when a powerful man uses race to divide us. Can you sign the petition today?
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