Posted on 02/27/2007 12:50:02 PM PST by NormsRevenge
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The biracial daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond defended the former segregationist on Tuesday and said the Rev. Al Sharpton "overreacted" when Sharpton learned he is a descendent of a slave owned by the senator's relatives.
"In spite of the fact he was a segregationist, he did many wonderful things for black people ... I'm not sure that Reverend Sharpton is aware of all the things he did," said Essie Mae Washington-Williams, who was in South Carolina for a speech. "I kind of feel that there was an overreaction."
Professional genealogists working 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.
When Sharpton learned of the link, he said: "It was probably the most shocking thing in my life."
Thurmond, of South Carolina, was once considered an icon of racial segregation. During his 1948 bid for president, he promised to preserve segregation. In 1957, he filibustered for more than 24 hours against a civil rights bill.
Sharpton, who ran for president in 2004 on a ticket of racial justice, said he met Thurmond in 1991 with the late soul singer 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.
Thurmond, the nation's long-serving senator, was originally a Democrat but became a Republican in 1964. He softened his segregation stance later in his life and died in 2003, at 100.
Thurmond's children have acknowledged that Thurmond fathered a biracial daughter. Williams' mother was a housekeeper in the home of Thurmond's parents.
A telephone message left Tuesday at Strom Thurmond Jr.'s office was not immediately returned.
Why do I think that Sharpton is primarily interested in a financial settlement more than anything else?
Al Sharpton is out to prove himself a bastard ?
Sharpton? NEVER!!
LOL
They must have him confused with someone else. :-)
Mitochondrial DNA analyses points to a common Gramma 140,000 years ago and she lived in the horn of Africa. That means we're all cousins and African-Whatevers!
So George Washington was African-Whatever and our first colored president! Once all this hooey is put aside, we're all human, (except Spock) so lets put this racial razzmataz to bed!
You're going to have a very long "sleep", T-C. LOL.
Sharpton is twice the racist that Thurmond ever was.
My point was that it has little or nothing to do with Thurman. As noted above, the arcane relationship was his grandfather's second cousin. If this was about a different second cousin of the Senator's grandfather who was NOT named Thurman, this would be a non-story.
Like Romney's polygamist ancestors?
The MSM is willing to overlook Obama's polygamist father but gleefully jumps on Mitt's great-grandfather. Talk about unfair and unbalanced.
Doesn't the word 'miserable' fit in there somewhere too?????
No, Al is trying to figure out a way he can get them to pay reparations.
Am I understanding this correctly?
The Extortionist Sharpton's ancestor was not owned by Thurmond's ancestor: TES's ancestor was owned by a cousin of Thurmond's ancestor?
If I had buried a fruit jar full of money in a 40 acre field and forgot how to find it:
I would offer Al half the money, I bet with his nose for money he could find it in 10 minutes or less.
"Al Sharpton is out to prove himself a bastard?"
I prefer the term "mamzer" for Sharpton.
Do you think I'll be able to get up sooner if I wait for Barak Obama to self-identify as a Marxist?
Same reason Bill Clinton is "black" and Clarence Thomas isn't.
It really stands out, how sensible and normal Ms. Washington-Williams is - not because she's ... er, whatever race she is ... but because through no fault of her own she's usually associated with politicians!
LOL! That ditty might even take longer, T-C. We know *what* he is, but he and his socialist-commie minions won't ever admit The Truth, IMO. That's secreted, forever.
No, A white woman can have black children, but a black woman can never have white children. It's a rule
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