Macacawitz

Macacawitz was a pejorative term used for incumbent U.S. Senator George Allen during the campaign for the United States Senate election in Virginia, 2006. It was a portmanteau of "Macaca," a slur used by Allen on August 11, 2006, and "-witz," a common ending of Ashkenazi Jewish surnames [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100401762_pf.html Democratic Organizer Quits After Calling Allen 'Macacawitz' - washingtonpost.com ] ] [ [http://www.californiarepublic.org/archives/Columns/Gorin/20061023GorinTrouble.html CaliforniaRepublic | The Trouble with 'Macacawitz' by Julia Gorin | Conservative Opinion - Popular Culture - Hollywood ] ] .

On September 19, John Podhoretz used the name "Felix Macacawitz", referring to Allen's maternal grandfather Felix Lumbroso, as a headline for a post in the "National Review" blog "The Corner." [cite web|url=http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODBiODMwNzYyMjA2ZmU3YTVjNTdjYjhmMmZjMWQ2YWY| title=Felix Macacawitz| publisher=National Review|work=The Corner|date=2006-09-19|accessdate=2006-10-30|last=Podhoretz |first=John] According to Podhoretz the term "Macacawitz" caught on in political circles almost immediately. [cite web|url=http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OWFkNmQzODY3M2UxNmI4ZDE0MDM0N2Q4Y2RhMWMyMmM| title=Podhoretz gets results!| publisher=National Review|work=The Corner|date=2006-10-05|accessdate=2006-10-30|last=Podhoretz |first=John] On October 4, Meryl Ibis, a field organizer for Democratic congressional candidate Al Weed, resigned after she used the slur in an email to supporters of Weed. [cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100401762.html |title=Democratic Organizer Quits After Calling Allen 'Macacawitz' |date=2006-10-05 |last=Craig |first=Tim |accessdate=2006-10-30 |page=B02]

It had been revealed on August 25 that Allen's mother was probably Jewishndashshe would have been a Tunisian Jew, a North African community in which Ashkenazi Jewish surnames are actually virtually non-existentndashand therefore Allen was ethnically part-Jewish and religiously Jewish too, according to traditional Jewish law. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001965.html Allen's Mother Revealed Jewish Heritage to Him Last Month - washingtonpost.com ] ]

ee also

*United States Senate election in Virginia, 2006

References