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Thurmond child says Sharpton overreacted
AP on Yahoo ^ | 2/27/07 | Katrina A. Goggins - ap

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.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: overreacted; sharpton; thurmond
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To: NormsRevenge

Why do I think that Sharpton is primarily interested in a financial settlement more than anything else?


41 posted on 02/27/2007 1:34:27 PM PST by TravisBickle (Are you talkin' to me?)
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To: Bigg Red

Al Sharpton is out to prove himself a bastard ?


42 posted on 02/27/2007 1:39:15 PM PST by TYVets (God so loved the world he didn't send a committee)
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To: ElkGroveDan
Remember this is all about a second cousin of Thurmond's grandfather.

Well, its also kinda about the fact that one of Thurmond's relatives owned slaves, specifically a relative of Al Sharpton, and then Thurmond himself ran on a campaign of segregation in a bid for the Presidency. I'd say there is a little more to it than discovering that a distant cousin has been arrested for drunk driving.
43 posted on 02/27/2007 1:39:19 PM PST by Eagle of Liberty (The United States of America is the only country strong enough to go it alone.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Sharpton? NEVER!!

LOL


44 posted on 02/27/2007 1:41:40 PM PST by Sue Perkick (...what I was born to do, don't have to think it through.....)
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To: PBRSTREETGANG

They must have him confused with someone else. :-)


45 posted on 02/27/2007 1:42:47 PM PST by Sue Perkick (...what I was born to do, don't have to think it through.....)
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To: Tax-chick
I once met an albino. All others, myself included, are "people of color!".

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!

46 posted on 02/27/2007 1:46:18 PM PST by Young Werther
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To: Tax-chick

You're going to have a very long "sleep", T-C. LOL.


47 posted on 02/27/2007 1:47:50 PM PST by Cultural Realm
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Sharpton is twice the racist that Thurmond ever was.


48 posted on 02/27/2007 1:48:25 PM PST by D-fendr
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To: Kerretarded
I'd say there is a little more to it than discovering that a distant cousin has been arrested for drunk driving.

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.

49 posted on 02/27/2007 1:48:51 PM PST by ElkGroveDan (When toilet paper is a luxury, you have achieved communism.)
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To: ElkGroveDan

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.


50 posted on 02/27/2007 1:48:55 PM PST by kalee (Tthe offences we give, we write in the dust; Those we take, we write in marble. JHuett)
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To: TYVets
Al Sharpton is out to prove himself a bastard ?

Doesn't the word 'miserable' fit in there somewhere too?????

51 posted on 02/27/2007 1:50:10 PM PST by ErieGeno
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To: Brilliant

No, Al is trying to figure out a way he can get them to pay reparations.


52 posted on 02/27/2007 1:50:14 PM PST by kalee (Tthe offences we give, we write in the dust; Those we take, we write in marble. JHuett)
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To: NormsRevenge

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?


53 posted on 02/27/2007 1:55:06 PM PST by bannie
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To: kalee
No, Al is trying to figure out a way he can get them to pay reparations.

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.

54 posted on 02/27/2007 1:56:58 PM PST by TYVets (God so loved the world he didn't send a committee)
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To: TYVets

"Al Sharpton is out to prove himself a bastard?"

I prefer the term "mamzer" for Sharpton.


55 posted on 02/27/2007 2:08:41 PM PST by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
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To: Cultural Realm
... a very long "sleep" ...

Do you think I'll be able to get up sooner if I wait for Barak Obama to self-identify as a Marxist?

56 posted on 02/27/2007 2:10:38 PM PST by Tax-chick (Every "choice" has a direct object.)
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To: Tax-chick
Why is Ms. Washington-Williams "biracial," while Barak Osama is "black"?

Same reason Bill Clinton is "black" and Clarence Thomas isn't.

57 posted on 02/27/2007 2:14:13 PM PST by JCEccles
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To: JCEccles

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!


58 posted on 02/27/2007 2:22:04 PM PST by Tax-chick (Every "choice" has a direct object.)
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To: Tax-chick

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.


59 posted on 02/27/2007 2:29:37 PM PST by Cultural Realm
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To: MeanWestTexan; Just sayin
So being black is paternal, line

No, A white woman can have black children, but a black woman can never have white children. It's a rule

60 posted on 02/27/2007 2:32:51 PM PST by Oztrich Boy ( for those in Rio Linda, there's conservapedia)
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