An Ascent Shadowed By Questions on Race

"When I questioned George further, he said that Lane, like him, was an advocate for states' rights and was only a man of his time," said Parks, who was stunned by Allen's admission.

Lane, now 82 and ill with Parkinson's disease, was unable to comment. His wife, Jean, said she has no memory of Allen's support.

As a state legislator in 1984, Allen was one of 27 members of the House of Delegates to oppose a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. During his 1993 gubernatorial campaign, he acknowledged displaying the Confederate flag in his living room, calling it part of a flag collection. A hangman's noose, which he said was part of a Western memorabilia collection, hung in his law office.

As governor, Allen appointed one black cabinet member, Kay Coles James, as secretary of health and human resources, and a Latino, Transportation Secretary Robert E. Martinez. Midway through his term, the number of African Americans in senior posts had declined by half from the tenure of L. Douglas Wilder, the state's first black governor, according to an audit by a state watchdog agency. For three years, he incensed black leaders with an annual Confederate History Month proclamation that failed to mention slavery.

Allen had an active term as governor. He abolished the state's parole system, replacing it with a "truth in sentencing" law that requires those convicted of crimes to serve the bulk of their sentence. He pushed through changes in welfare and education policy and signed a measure requiring parental notification for minors seeking abortions.

As he launched his 2000 Senate campaign, Allen began some attempts to mend racial fences. He backed Gov. James S. Gilmore's proposal for an MLK holiday in Virginia. After defeating Charles S. Robb, his first floor speech was in support of the appointment of Richmond lawyer Roger Gregory, an African American, to the 4th Circuit federal appeals court. Then came the 2004 pilgrimage, the first of three that he took.

"None of us can presume to know what the motivation is" for Allen's civil rights trips, said the Rev. Douglas Tanner, who recently retired as president and chief executive of the Faith & Politics Institute. "For someone in politics, it's always likely to be a mixture of genuine interest and whatever the political advantage is."

Gillis, who has supported other Republicans, said that he doesn't know whether Allen used racist language but that, in the end, it's not that important. "I've had white friends who've used those words in the heat of passion," he said. "It's a time past. He's not the man he once was."

Allen remains an opponent of affirmative action. In 2005, the NAACP said he supported legislation deemed to be in its interest 15 percent of the time.

More often, his advocacy is in initiatives such as his co-sponsorship of the resolution apologizing to lynching victims and their descendants. In other areas, he has co-authored legislation blocking federal taxes on Internet access and online sales. He also collaborated on the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which invests $3.7 billion in research.

His appearances before black audiences are a delicate dance. At the NAACP state conference in Hampton on Friday night, he got no questions about "macaca" or other recent revelations.

When the moderator presented Allen with an application for a lifetime membership, he happily took the opportunity for a positive gesture.

Later, answering a question about racial profiling, Allen explained that he opposed the practice. When someone in the audience said "Amen," Allen was briefly startled.

"Did I say that right?" he asked.

Metro researcher Meg Smith, researcher Rena Kirsch and director of information resources Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report.