Asked what he thought Allen meant by using the word Macaca, Sidarth said: "I took it to mean that was the first thing that came to his mind when he saw a person of color. It does have connotations in Hispanic cultures of being associated with a monkey."
Sidarth, who said he had introduced himself to the senator earlier in the week, said he felt Allen "was singling me out as a person of color when the rest of the audience was Caucasian." Wadhams said Sidarth was not the only nonwhite person at the rally in Breaks, Virginia, which is near the Kentucky border.
The video clip shows Allen telling the crowd: "Let's give a welcome to Macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."
Sidarth was born and raised in Fairfax County.
Wadhams said Allen called attention to Sidarth simply to welcome him to "a place in Virginia Webb has never been to and probably never will be to."
University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato said Allen's remarks could damage Allen's efforts to position himself for a possible run for president in 2008.
"This is a comment that will be regurgitated a thousand times," Sabato said. "It was a clumsy, stupid gaffe, and it's this kind of thing that destroys presidential candidacies."
The words could be especially damaging when considered in the context of Allen's history of displaying the Confederate flag, Sabato said. Allen used to keep the flag in his living room, and he wore a Confederate lapel pin for his high school yearbook photo.
