Jim Webb and Senator Allen « GOP of the Youth

Friday, October 27, 2006

Jim Webb and Senator Allen

Jim Webb's Books 'Racist, Misogynistic,' Conservative Critic Says
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 27, 2006

(Editor's note: Some of the passages from the books in question are quoted below and may contain words or descriptions that offend some readers.)
(CNSNews.com) - Virginia Senate hopeful Jim Webb was taking flak Friday for what sounded like a child sex scene in his 2001 novel, but critics who have examined the books he wrote over a two-decade period also see a pattern of discriminatory and offensive characterization of women and racial minorities.

At a time when Webb is campaigning for public office and appealing for Virginians' votes, some believe the writing may speak to his character.

Webb's Republican opponent, Sen. George Allen, who also has been dogged by accusations of racism, released a statement late Thursday listing excerpts from the books, charging that they "disturbingly and consistently -- indeed, almost uniformly -- portray women as servile, subordinate, inept, incompetent, promiscuous, perverted, or some combination of these."

Allen said most Virginians and Americans would find the passages "shocking, especially coming from the pen of someone who seeks the privilege of serving in the United States Senate, one of the highest offices in the land."

Mychal Massie, national chairman of the conservative African-American group Project 21, is among those troubled by the material in the books.

"I am inclined to think that his writing and the racial epithets and the misogynistic ways he references women are not far removed from the fiber of his being," he told Cybercast News Service Wednesday.

"I certainly would not feel comfortable with that mindset or that character holding an elected office by which they could make rulings that could seriously affect and potentially harm the very people he shows such low regard for in his writing," Massie said.

Webb is the author of six novels written between 1978 and 2001, as well as one non-fiction book.

Reports this month in the /ul Washington Post/ulnone /ul /ulnone and Baltimore Sun referred in passing to concerns raised by the Allen campaign about some of Webb's books. But those reports did not examine the subject matter in any depth.
Cybercast News Service has obtained and studied some of the books.

In "Something to Die For" (1991) Webb has a character say: "'We're on our way to becoming the world's recreational center, a nation not to be taken seriously ... I can just see the billboards fifty years from now as you come over the bridge and stop at the tollbooths outside Manhattan: A smiling, beautiful naked woman, and the sign saying AMERICAN ASS IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT PRODUCT.'"

In "Lost Soldiers," (2001) he writes: "Turning, he saw that she was fighting back revulsion as she looked at his bluing face and his reddened, bark-hard hands. And in that instant he hated her. I could have had you. He thought. Not too many years ago you would have been begging me to take you."

The 2001 novel also recounts an episode involving a father and young son in Thailand.

"A shirtless man walked toward them along a mud pathway. His muscles were young and hard, but his face was devastated with wrinkles. His eyes were so red they appeared burned by fire. A naked boy ran happily toward him from the little plot of dirt. The man grabbed his young son in his arms, turned him upside down, and put the boy's penis in his mouth."

In "Fields of Fire" (1978) Webb includes a rape scene: "Dan dared to crush her to him and she acquiesced and he marveled at it, could not understand it. But he felt a sense of total power from the knowledge that she despised him and what he stood for, and yet was unable to restrain her nether parts from seeking him."

Later in that book, a character says of a Vietnamese girl with shrapnel in her gut, "Three years and she'd be like all the rest of 'em. If she's lucky she'll live through this and stay in Da Nang when she gets out of the hospital. Then maybe in a year or two she'll make a good whore."

The N-word also appears in some of Webb's books.

From "Fields of Fire" - "Niggers ... Out in the bush, they need you, they're all right. Get 'em back in the rear and they turn to s***."

In "A Country Such as This," (1983) the word is used again, and a character says of African Americans: "I think everybody should own at least one."

Later in that book, Webb describes Filipino road workers and Vietnamese guards as "monkey-faced."

"He went through the morning ritual for the last time, trying to summon up all the emotions and say good-bye to slop buckets and cold water and monkey-faced guards, to all the odors and the permeating noise of the loudspeaker and the gongs."

Webb, whose wife is Vietnamese, uses the same term to describe Vietnamese women in "Fields of Fire":

"... each figure became a caricature: the monkey-faced women in their flour-sack tops and dirty black pajama bottoms, hair pulled back into severe buns, lips and teeth stained by betel nut, who began whining the moment they came within earshot."
'Intrinsic philosophy'

Massie conceded that Webb has every right to say whatever he wants in his novels.

"If this were just Mr. Webb the author I may be repulsed by his writing but I would argue that under the Constitution it is his right to write as he sees fit, and for the publishers to publish it and for people to buy it."

But, Massie added, "Speaking as a writer, a person tends to write what they believe in. Even in presenting a fictional writing the author writes from a core philosophy -- an intrinsic philosophy."

"For this individual to seek office with this kind of baggage, I would feel uncomfortable, because Virginia has no shortage of all of the peoples he has summarily offended and identified in derogatory ways," he said.

Others disagree about whether the books' content speaks to Webb's character.

"Obviously those statements are rude and degrading," Connie Mackey, senior vice president of the Family Research Council Action -- the legislative action arm of the pro-family organization -- told Cybercast News Service.

"But, she added, the books are fiction and I wouldn't judge his character on that in particular."

"I think there are a lot of things that speak to his character, but because the books are fiction I don't think that's probably the worst of his traits."

Shankar Duraiswamy, spokesman for the Asian American Action Fund - which has endorsed Webb - declined to comment on the contents of the books, saying he had not read them.

But he defended the group's endorsement of Webb, saying that he shows a "sincere and dedicated commitment to the [Asian American] community."

"The context of the word may make the use of the word innocuous, for example people used to complain that certain Mark Twain novels like Huck Finn used derogatory terms referring to African Americans," Duraiswamy told Cybercast News Service .

"It's part of the character development and it's not necessarily suggesting that that is a word that should be used or sanctioning the use of those kinds of terms or things like that," he suggested.

"We do not usually endorse candidates who are not themselves Asian Pacific Americans, but Jim Webb is sort of a unique case," Duraiswamy told Cybercast News Service . "He has a deep understanding of the Asian Pacific region and the Asian Pacific American community as a function of his military experience, his business experience, and his personal experiences."

Duraiswamy noted that Webb speaks Vietnamese fluently and has extensive experience in the region.

Webb's campaign office has not returned multiple calls since Wednesday, seeking comment for this article.

Posted at 10:40 am by TulaneGOP


	The Don October 27, 2006 04:06 PM PDT I hope Allen wins...I think Webb, no matter how well he served in the Navy back in the day, is simply not fit to serve in the Senate, even though I only live across the river and not in Virginia. However, I do get all of the political ads from Virginia with all of the DC stations. The funniest one is the one that says Webb good for '06, then crosses out the 06 and puts 1806. High Comedy.

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