Sen. Allen Denies Using a Racial Slur in the 1970s
RICHMOND, Va. — Sen. George Allen on Monday denounced as “ludicrously false†allegations from a former college football teammate that he frequently used a racial slur to refer to blacks in the early 1970s and that he once stuffed the severed head of a deer into the mailbox of a black household.
Allen’s campaign also released statements from four other ex-teammates defending the senator and rejecting Dr. Ken Shelton’s claims. Shelton leveled the allegations against the former University of Virginia quarterback in an article published Sunday in the online magazine Salon.com.
“The story and his comments and assertions in there are completely false,†Allen said during an interview with Associated Press. “I don’t remember ever using that word and it is absolutely false that that was ever part of my vocabulary.â€
Allen, a Republican, has been dogged by questions about racial insensitivity in his campaign against Democrat Jim Webb.
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