The diversity of diversity

Sam Smith - One aspect of diversity that doesn't get enough attention is its diversity. With considerable help from the mediaand the voices it cites, we learn that we are black, white or Hispanic, gay or straight, religious or atheist. . . and so forth.  A number of aspects of my life have caused me …

The numbers they don’t talk about

Sam Smith - Obsessed with race as a topic, even progressive Americans fail to deal with numbers that could bring fair minded ethnic groups far closer together, namely the number of those in poverty.  Interestingly, 14.2 million of these folks are white as opposed to 8.1. black and 9.5 latino yet one seldom hears discussion …

Multiculturalism means living with folks who aren’t as smart about you as you are

Sam Smith - As the virtuous drive towards more multiculturalism grows increasingly powerful,a predictable but largely ignored problem raises its head, namely the more contact we have with those of other cultures the greater chance that we, or they, will say or do something found dumb or offensive.  The cancel culture is one example of …

Positive ethnic theory

Sam Smith - The big problem with critical race theory is that it's big on analysis and low on action. Under CRT, kids would be taught the evils of past systems with far less attention to those who changed it and how they did it. Change is driven far more by inspiration than by facts.  …

Getting along with others without critical theories

 Sam Smith The current infatuation with Tulsa, slavery and critical racial theory has left me feeling  a bit out of it all. I thought you were meant to discover how to get along with others and not merely recite the sins of the past by some. Sure, you learn from history, but one of our …

Why reparations aren’t the answer

Sam Smith - The 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre has revived talk of reparations - reimbursements for the descendants of those who suffered a historic disaster at the evil hands of others.  And it accompanies a striking revival of criticism of past wrongs such as slavery, but sadly unaccompanied by a sufficiently broad reaction …

Moving from anti-racism to pro-multiculturalism

Sam Smith - Although we have to keep fighting against racism, an aspect of this issue that gets lost is how to create a well functioning multi-cultural society in which our  relationships are considered assets and not just major problems to be solved. With considerable assistance from the media we have come to view ethnic …

Moving from anti-racism to pro-multiculturalism

Sam Smith - Although we have to keep fighting against racism, an aspect of this issue that gets lost is how to create a well functioning multi-cultural society in which our  relationships are considered assets and not just major problems to be solved. With considerable assistance from the media we have come to view ethnic …

Making multiculturalism an asset and not just a problem

Sam Smith – Drastically missing from our talk about ethnic relationships is discussion about positive ethnic relations. We treat the matter as a huge problem to be solved by things like changes in law, improved policing, social guilt and pressure. In fact, good relations exist because they work for all those involved. You can’t define …

The ethnicity that the media ignores

Sam Smith - According to most of the media, Barack Obama and Kamala Harris are black and Naomi Osaka is Asian. Which is, in fact, only half true. Harris' mother came from India, Barack's white mother was born in Kansas, and Naomi Osaka's father is Haitian.These are just three examples of how a growing biethnic …

The ethnic thing we don’t talk about

Sam Smith – Perhaps the most undiscussed aspect of multiculturalism is its positive effects on everyone. I’m as guilty as others in this regard, letting it slip thanks to the effort required to deal with  the discriminatory ways  in which it presently functions in our society. But if we are to create a truly positive …

Black links

BLACK AMERICA WEBBLACK NEWSBLACK PRESS USABLACK VOICESBLACK WORLD TODAYRICHARD PRINCEREDDING NEWS REVIEW

The story Spike Lee didn’t tell

Sam Smith - Watching Stokely Carmichael pictured in BlacKKKlansman brought back memories of sitting in a Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee meeting in the mid Sixties listening to Carmichael tell us that white SNCC members were no longer welcomed in the civil rights movement. As he had put it elsewhere, "Integration is an insidious subterfuge for …

The underrated secret for minorities: lead the majority

Sam Smith - Black Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry's prominence in the Harry-Meaghan wedding is one more example of the power of an underrated strategy for minorities: lead the majority. As noted here before, there is ample historic precedence, witness the Irish role in American politics, the Jewish impact on our culture, and Martin Luther King's …

Brighten things up with a new America

Sam Smith - Okay, we get it. Trump is mentally unstable, cruel, incompetent and dishonest. But if we only talk about Trump & Co, we will end up with a singularly depressive image of our land and its people. I know it's easy to do. Hell, I've been doing it myself, but increasingly I've been …