Ugly Words

Past and present in the Virginia Senate race

DID REPUBLICAN Sen. George Allen use racial slurs years ago? Did his Democratic challenger, James Webb? Does it matter, in a race between two candidates with long public records and substantial differences on Iraq, health care, the economy and other critical issues?

Yes, it does matter. Mr. Allen said he does not recall having used what newspapers delicately call "the N-word." But at least a half-dozen people, including ones with upstanding reputations and no evident political agendas, have now told journalists that he did. The stories they have recounted about Mr. Allen's behavior raise disturbing questions about his character and credibility.

In the wake of the furor over the senator's reported comments, Mr. Webb would not deny that he had employed the ugly term. He said he has never used it as a slur but added to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, "I don't think that there's anyone who grew up around the South that hasn't had the word pass through their lips at one time in their life."

It is unfortunate that Mr. Allen, a man who has held elected office practically his entire adult life, is only now, in his fifties, subjected to damning revelations about events that are three decades old. We wish the questions about his racial attitudes had been raised and raked through earlier in his career. But Mr. Allen helped open the door to this inquiry this summer when he singled out the lone person of color at a rural campaign rally, mocked him with the word "macaca" and then offered no plausible explanation for his use of what others see as a racial slur. He's also vulnerable because, as had been reported, he used to display Confederate flags at home and a hangman's noose in his office.

And his public record on racial matters is mixed. As governor of Virginia in the 1990s, Mr. Allen named relatively few blacks to his Cabinet, opposed a state holiday in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and declared an annual Confederate History Month without reference to the institution of slavery and the scars it left on this country. On the other hand, as a senator he helped provide federal technology grants to historically black colleges and universities and sponsored legislation to apologize for slavery.

The senator has admitted to youthful "insensitivity" and apologized for the macaca incident, just as Mr. Webb has said he would not today endorse the disparaging remarks he once made about the role of women in the military. People can learn and grow; they also can profess change for reasons of political convenience. So the questions are legitimate. But so are the actions both men have taken over years in public office, and the positions they are staking out now. We hope the present discussion won't drown out a broader debate about what each candidate would seek to accomplish as a senator.