Another reason prejudice doesn’t work

Sam Smith - I remain struck by the fact that an overwhelming number of those who attack others because of their gender or ethnicity have far less positive qualities than those they criticize. If you press the concept of white or heterosexual supremacy shouldn't you at least demonstrate in oneself some of the virtues you …

Sub macho men

Sam Smith – I have come to regard men who attack gays, women who have abortions, or immigrants as pseudo or sub macho guys because they are defining themselves not by their own virtues but by the fact that they dislike someone else. This is a weak self description but one we have come to …

Beyond ethnicity and gender

Sam Smith - I belong to the ethnic group "me." While I have white skin and male body works, these are trivial characteristics compared to the idiosyncrasies of my daily nature and behavior. One of the jobs of a writer, after all, is not to repeat the words and habits of others. When I'm feeling …

Getting along with other Americans

Sam Smith One of the sad things about the ethnic conflict that has increasingly defined our land is the lack of movements that produce change rather than merely more anger. While the victims of such things as police brutality have more than enough reason to express this anger, that doesn’t mean the anger will produce …

A few kind words for the white American male

This was, in the context of the times, one of my more radical essays, a defense of a constituency the Democratic Party would lose for the next quarter century. As I wrote in 2001: One of the besetting sins of many in the progressive movement is that they have made white men the enemy. In …