citypaper: archives

Angry White Male
For years, Sam Francis enraged sensible conservatives with his far-right Washington Times columns. Last summer, some of those conservatives took action. Sneering that Francis is the brains behind Pat Buchanan, they dredged up white supremacist tracts that got him fired. Now Francis is fighting back.

Cover Story

Sometimes, mere circumstance vaults into irony. So it is that Samuel Francis, current defender of the Southern Way of Life, came to occupy the boyhood bedroom of Robert E. Lee, legendary defender of the Southern Way of Life.

Francis' computer, bookcases, and stacks of yellowing newspapers now sit where he thinks young Master Lee's bed once did. It's a nook cramped by the top-floor eaves of an Old Town Alexandria house owned for a year by Henry Lee (Robert's father). The stench of Francis' pack-a-day Pall Mall habit fills the little office. Francis isn't one for elaborate decor, but he has personalized the room a bit—for example, the paperweight model of a Heckler & Koch 91 A-2 semiautomatic rifle (complete with telescopic sight) lends a homey touch. The prim brick house now quarters the Foundation Endowment, a think tank and Francis' new employer.

Francis wasn't supposed to have a new employer: He enjoyed his job as an editorial writer and nationally syndicated columnist for the Washington Times. But he didn't have much choice. Last September, the paper, which never misses a chance to print the conservative side of a story, fired Francis for being too conservative.

"I think that basically I was probably...too politically incorrect for the Times," says Francis.

Editor in Chief Wesley Pruden, who denied repeated requests for an interview, told the Washington Post that Francis merely "resigned" after a discussion. But according to Times staffers, Pruden wanted to sack the columnist after reading some things Francis said and wrote outside the Times that he thought were racist.... Continued

Issue of Jan. 19 - 25, 1996

News and Features

Columns

Eats

Movies

Music

Theater

Arts and Events

City Lights

This week's best in Arts and Entertainment.

DC SEARCH
calendar
restaurants
movies
classified
personals

Find an Event

Enter a keyword, select the type of event, and the particular day this week below.

Submit your event to the City Paper's Event Calendar.

Find a Restaurant

Enter a restaurant name, or select a cuisine and neighborhood below.

Find a Movie

Select a movie theater in the box below to see a list of all movies at that theater.

...Or view a full list of theaters, films, and showtimes.

Search Classified Ads

Post a Classified Ad

Find It

Find a Match

Age range: to
Find It

Who saw you? Check I Saw You
Looking for something kinky? Wild Side

City Paper Newsletter
advertisement

CP Events

Can I have seconds?

This Week

Current Issue
The Issue of Sep. 5 - 11, 2008

This Week in
City Paper History

  • WILLIAMS EYEING HISTORY
    Aug. 28 - Sep. 3, 1998
  • The Big Takeover
    The Frodus conglomerate builds a Fairfax empire out of pancakes, bikini briefs, and hardcore irony.
    Aug. 29 - Sep. 4, 1997
  • Dicked Over
    Penile implants were sold as a safe cure for impotence, but a D.C. lawyer says the manufacturer gave his clients the shaft.
    Aug. 29 - Sep. 4, 1997
advertisement
advertisement