According to Salon magazine:
Edward J. Sabornie, a special education professor at North Carolina State University, had previously spoken to Salon about Allen's behavior on the condition of anonymity, because he feared retribution from the Allen campaign. In a Salon story on Sunday, Sabornie was quoted as a "teammate" who remembered Allen using the word "nigger" to describe blacks. "It was so common with George when he was among his white friends. This is the terminology he used," Sabornie said in that article.Sabornie said he has now decided to let his name be known because he was upset by how Allen responded this week to the Salon story. "What George said on Monday really kind of inflamed me -- that it was 'ludicrously false' that he ever used the N-word," Sabornie told Salon. "I don't know how George can look himself in the mirror after saying that."
Salon adds, in an obvious rebuttal to the ridiculous charges being flung around by right-wing bloggers:
In the preparation of the original article that included Sabornie's unattributed quotes, Salon never communicated with anyone from Daily Kos, the campaign of Allen's Democratic challenger Jim Webb or any Democratic Party entity.
Finally, Salon reports on a bizarre 1991 "pact" between Sabornie and "at least six other teammates and college acquaintances of Allen at a birthday party." According to Salon:
...the friends decided, after a night of drinking, that they would all swear not to speak ill of Allen as he campaigned for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Well, it looks like that "pact" held for 15 years, but is now falling apart with a vengeance.
P.S. Go read the whole story by Michael Scherer at Salon.
[UPDATE: I missed this one - Sabornie says "he remembers Allen also referring to blacks as 'roaches,' and using the word 'wetback' to refer to Latinos." Lovely, huh?]
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.
George Beam, a former roommate of one of the alleged hunting partners, said he had been told of the incident at the time but not that it was targeted to a black family.Since the racial allegations first broke Monday in Salon, an online magazine, other Allen acquaintances have claimed they heard him use a racial epithet as a college student.
Patricia Waring, who described herself as the wife of Allen's former rugby coach, said on MSNBC that she heard Allen using the "N-word" during a 1978 game.
Salon, meanwhile, posted a new article Friday identifying a formerly anonymous college teammate who had echoed Shelton's charge: Edward J. Sabornie, a special education professor at North Carolina State University.