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Sharpton wants DNA test (thinks he might be related to Strom Thurmond)
Yahoo News ^ | February 26, 2007 | Adam Goldman

Posted on 02/26/2007 9:33:45 AM PST by conservative_2001

NEW YORK - The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond through his great-grandfather, a slave owned by an ancestor of the late senator.

"I can't find out anything more shocking than I've already learned," Sharpton told the Daily News, which on Sunday reported the link based on genealogists' findings.

Sharpton's spokesman, Rachel Noerdlinger, confirmed Monday for The Associated Press that Sharpton plans to pursue DNA testing, but had no further details.

Sharpton and Thurmond didn't appear to have much in common: Thurmond ran for president in 1948 as a segregationist. Sharpton ran for president in 2004 calling for racial equality. Last week, Sharpton learned about the connection.

"It was probably the most shocking thing in my life," Sharpton said at a news conference Sunday, the day the Daily News reported the link.

Professional genealogists, who work for Ancestry.com, found that Sharpton's great-grandfather Coleman Sharpton was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.

"Based on the paper trail, it seems pretty evident that the connection is there," said Mike Ward, a genealogist with Ancestry.com, who called the link "amazing."

Ancestry.com's chief family genealogist, Megan Smolenyak, said Sharpton would need to match his DNA with a present-day descendant to see if they are biologically related.

"I think the odds are slim he would match," Smolenyak told the News. "There is no particular evidence to suggest that there is a direct relationship between the two (black and white) Sharpton families to suggest they share a common ancestry. But, given the legacy of plantation society, you can't rule it out."

The revelations surfaced after Ancestry.com contacted a Daily News reporter who agreed to have his own family tree done. The intrigued reporter then asked Sharpton if he wanted to participate. Sharpton said he told the paper, "Go for it."

The genealogists, who were not paid by the newspaper, uncovered the ancestral ties using a variety of documents that included census, marriage and death records.

Strom Thurmond, of South Carolina, was once considered an icon of racial segregation. During his 1948 bid for president he promised to preserve segregation, and in 1957 he filibustered for more than 24 hours against a civil rights bill.

But Thurmond was seen as softening his stance later in his long life. He died in 2003, at 100. One of the longest-serving senators in history, he was originally a Democrat but became a Republican in 1964.

His children have confirmed that he fathered a biracial daughter. Essie Mae Washington-Williams' mother was a housekeeper in the home of Thurmond's parents.

Sharpton said he met Thurmond only once, in 1991, when he visited Washington, D.C., with the late James Brown, who knew Thurmond. Sharpton said the meeting was "awkward."

"I was not happy to meet him because what he had done all his life," Sharpton said.

Sharpton said he hadn't attempted to contact the Thurmond family. As far as he knew, he said, the family hadn't tried to call him, either.

Some of Thurmond's relatives said the nexus also came as a surprise to them. A niece, Ellen Senter, said she would speak with Sharpton if he were interested.

"I doubt you can find many native South Carolinians today whose family, if you traced them back far enough, didn't own slaves," Senter, of Columbia, S.C., told the Daily News.

She added: "And it is wonderful that (Sharpton) was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was."

Telephone messages left by The Associated Press for Strom Thurmond Jr. and for an attorney who once represented Thurmond's biracial daughter were not immediately returned Sunday.


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: sharpton; slavery; thurmond
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I always knew there was a little white in Reverend Sharpton, yearning to be free.
1 posted on 02/26/2007 9:33:48 AM PST by conservative_2001
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To: conservative_2001

doesn't matter, he is a total idiot no matter what color he wants to be


2 posted on 02/26/2007 9:35:23 AM PST by sure_fine ( • not one to over kill the thought process™ •)
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To: conservative_2001
"Sharpton's spokesman, Rachel Noerdlinger, confirmed Monday..."

I believe Rachel was once romantically linked with Kevin Bacon.

3 posted on 02/26/2007 9:37:29 AM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: conservative_2001

I thought You were going to tell us he was the father to Anna Necole Baby?


4 posted on 02/26/2007 9:39:03 AM PST by restornu ("I teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves." ~ Joseph Smith)
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To: conservative_2001

What brought this about? Did James Cameron also find Al Sharpton and Strum Thurmond buried together in parallel ossuaries?


5 posted on 02/26/2007 9:40:58 AM PST by Cvengr
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To: conservative_2001
Then Shrapnel will have ammo to tawany brawley the Thurmonds no doubt some how......
6 posted on 02/26/2007 9:42:53 AM PST by b4its2late (Liberalism is a hollow log and a mental disorder.)
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To: conservative_2001
Hey Reverend Al, here's your real daddy!


7 posted on 02/26/2007 9:43:33 AM PST by GunnyHartman (The DNC, misunderestimating Dubya's strategery since 2000.)
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To: conservative_2001

More likely, he's the father of Anna Nicole's baby.


8 posted on 02/26/2007 9:43:34 AM PST by Rakkasan1 ((Illegal immigrants are just undocumented friends you haven't met yet!))
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To: conservative_2001

Hmm. Wonder what that would do to any possible Reparations he's "owed".


9 posted on 02/26/2007 9:44:52 AM PST by Egon ("If all your friends were named Cliff, would you jump off them??" - Hugh Neutron)
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To: sure_fine

Reminds me of the "Nate Griffin" episode of Family Guy>


10 posted on 02/26/2007 9:47:19 AM PST by Nomad817
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To: conservative_2001

Well, they both spent many years as racist Democrats.....


11 posted on 02/26/2007 9:48:06 AM PST by expatpat
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To: conservative_2001
Perhaps Al will run as a conservative next time around then.


12 posted on 02/26/2007 9:48:53 AM PST by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: conservative_2001

I guess Rev. Al is testing the waters again, to see if it's worth it for him to run for Prez again. He hasn't been in the news much lately, so here's a way to get another 15 minutes of fame.

Unfortunately, I think this news item will still be drowned out by the latest hiccup from the Anna Nicole Smith mess.


13 posted on 02/26/2007 9:49:07 AM PST by fatnotlazy
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To: conservative_2001
Al Sharpton-Thurmond of British decent


14 posted on 02/26/2007 9:49:26 AM PST by avacado
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To: conservative_2001
Careful Rev. Al, you might uncover something you don't want to know.
15 posted on 02/26/2007 9:49:46 AM PST by ASA Vet (The WOT should have been over on 11/05/1979.)
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To: fatnotlazy

"Unfortunately, I think this news item will still be drowned out by the latest hiccup from the Anna Nicole Smith mess."

I feel you but this is different how? This is just soap opera nonsense as well.


16 posted on 02/26/2007 9:51:15 AM PST by L98Fiero (A fool who'll waste his life, God rest his guts.)
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To: conservative_2001
PWN3D!!!!


17 posted on 02/26/2007 9:52:13 AM PST by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: conservative_2001

Is anybody checking into Robert Byrd's ancestry? Maybe he and Al are related too.


18 posted on 02/26/2007 9:53:38 AM PST by John Jorsett (scam never sleeps)
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To: GunnyHartman

I can see the resemblance. They both appear to be imbeciles, and then there's the matter of the helmet hair. In the past,Sharpton(The Graft Zeppelin) used to wear weird outfits too..


19 posted on 02/26/2007 9:54:56 AM PST by sheik yerbouty ( Make America and the world a jihad free zone!)
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To: conservative_2001
Would that make Rev Al a segregationist?


20 posted on 02/26/2007 9:58:34 AM PST by darkwing104 (Let's get dangerous)
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