Posted on 07/22/2010 2:04:52 PM PDT by nasube
Yesterday afternoon, I posted a vanity about this-I had read Sherrod's transcript, and Googled her to find out the details of her father's death, which she mentioned in her NAACP speech.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2556721/posts
She, in the speech mentioned her mother was on the Baker County Ga Board of Education. Long story short, I hit on an article from March 2, 2010, inducting five women in the Southern Rural Black Women’s Hall of Fame. It mentions a "hate crime" against Hosie Miller, and mentions Grace Hall Miller as one of the inductees.
Shirley Sherrod is listed as a speaker at that event-yet no mention is made that her mother is one of the five-or that she is Hosie Miller's daughter.
As far as I know, I'm the first person pretty much anywhere, since this flap began who found her father's name and was able to connect her with it. The MSM didn't until today.
Anyway, I asked yesterday if anyone could find anything about Hosie Miller-I couldn't match the few people by that name in the Social Security Death Index with the date, state, etc.
2 Freepers, I_don't_chat and DJ MacWoW came up with this in response from Ancestry.com:
According to Ancestry death records: Hosie Miller Birth about 1925 Death Date: 25 Mar 1965 County of death Dougherty Age: 39 years County of Residence: Mitchell
Now it says he lived in Mitchell County and died in Dougherty County-both are in Southwest Georgia. Here's what bugs me:
Here's an excerpt from Sherrod's NAACP speech:
It was 45 years ago today that my father’s funeral was held. I was a young girl at the age of 17 when my father was murdered by a white man in Baker County. In Baker County, the murder of black people occurred periodically, and in every case the white men who murdered them were never punished. It was no different in my father’s case. There were three witnesses to his murder, but the grand jury refused to indict the white man who murdered him.”
She had mentioned she lived, as a kid in Baker County, and her family's farm was in Baker County-the MSM today said he was shot by a neighbor over a dispute about cows.
Question: why doesn't the Ancestry.com records say he lived and was killed in Baker County, as Sherrod states?
My own dad died of natural causes years ago-a far less dramatic death, but I know what county he died in.
Other MSM reports metion the KKK was involved. She didn't in her speech-you figure that would be a salient point in a speech on race.
She also mentions the three witnesses, as well as a grand jury refusing to indict the killer.
This woman is, as of today, one of the most famous women in America. She's rich, she has the media eating out of her hand, the President and Secretary of Agriculture doing backflips for her.
Here's her again in the NAACP speech talking about the cross burning that she says occured a few months after her dad's murder.
""But anyway my brother and my sisters got on the phone -- they called other black men in the county. And it wasn't long before they had surrounded these white men. And they had to keep one young man from actually using his gun on one of them. You probably would have read about it had that happened that night. But they actually allowed those men to leave. [unclear 13:51]... get out of there."
"But I won't go into some of the other stuff that happened that night, but do know that my mother and my sister were out on the porch with a gun, and my mother said, "I see you and I know who you are." She recognized some of them. She'll tell you that she became the first black elected official in Baker County just 11 years later, and she is still serving you all. She's chair of the board of education and she's been serving almost 34 years."
Today one MSM source said there were "40 white men" at the cross burning-it would have taken quite a few "black men in the county" to provide the size of a group that could surround the 40 KKK and force them to leave.
Anyway, again, just like the neighbor, and the 3 witnesses to her father's killing-she indicates that she and her mother know who did this. In the speech she said her mother recognized some of the cross burners.
I think there needs to be an investigation into this. There's no statute of limitations for murder-as for the burning, if what went down was true, that's a hate crime-why not bring the men to justice, and if they are dead, go after their families for financial damages?
I'm not saying I don't believe her, but I'm not saying I automatically am, either. Not until there are further details.
If what she said is in fact true, I feel the investigation would only help give her and her family some measure of relief after all these years.
Thanks
There’s very little about either Charles or Sherry online. Try to find her birth date.
Something about her father's death bothers me. The cow story doesn't sounds like a lie.
And when people make things up, it's usually to hide something.
Ever notice that an oath says: "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth".....My, my...What were they trying to tell us!!!!
No biggie-I was semi-tongue in cheek in my response(don’t know the emoticoton for “semi tongue in cheek”
....but real dates, like their marriage, her birth are mysteriously lacking.
Where are the kids...I'm sure I remember reading that she had a daughter...
To put it bluntly, this whole thing stinks to high heaven.....and Sherrod’s a patsy who also happens to be full of s**t.
Count on it.
With that said, I don't think any good can come from investigating this about this woman. There is a real possibility that he was killed the way the family says. It's also possible that they are making incorrect assumptions about the case but I certainly wouldn't want to be the one questioning their story if it turned out to be true.
If the man was murdered, justice would be served in finding out who did it and why but not on the heels of this scandal or under pretense. I say leave the family alone on this issue.
Pretty soon you realize that she tells you only what she wants you to hear...and leaves out a lot of "truth".
Okay....Why no family pictures??
I would expect wikipedia to have something. They have very little. There are articles but they are short. Just his birth year, 1937.
Someone caught him on a cemtery site also...
And who says “peaceful yet provocative?” Gee, the guy sounds perfect. See, that’s what I’m talking about.
Are all his kids (Kenyatta and Russia and the rest) above average like in Lake Wobegone?
/s
Just say, HYPOTHETICALLY, that her dad died in a fight with another black guy-that stuff happened and happens one hell of a lot more than cross burnings-
With the tenor of the times, doesn’t dying as a civil rights martyr sound better? Plus it gives high moral ground, plus whatever insurance (black-owned insurance firms were big down South) would pay out to a KKK victim, and maybe not for less savory activities-hell what if the guy was stealing cows?
I had to even give examples like this-but people ask. I’ve got a feeling, reading Sherrod’s defenders on FR that there are a lot of white folks who would buy a “brand-new” DVD player in the box out of a guy’s car in the ‘hood and unwrap a box full of bricks later. Smart maybe-street smart-not so much.
My point is, she’s stating some mighty provocative stuff of her own-let’s get it out in the open.
Everything says he was born in 1937. 11 years would make her born in 1948. Which would make her 17 in 1965. So that fits.
who’s running the “countdown to the race war” clock?
"Have we Overcome?" by Juhn Chappell Feb. 21, 2010
“I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one questioning their story if it turned out to be true”.
What’s the harm? as I said, the big thing is this went unpunished-Medgar Evers, the 3 civil rights workers in Philadelphia Miss (Mississippi Burning)the Birmingham Church Bombing-they reopened those, and I think, in every case, put one or more men in jail. Look at the Nazi POW camp guards-they’re still getting them.
Ok. I’ll find it later.
Vital records were often handwritten or typed back then and mistakes on dates are not uncommon. It’s so common that’s one reason why they (Ancestry) give you the option to search for items either “exactly” or within 2, 5 or 10 years. ;)
Any Georgia FReepers who could look through microfilm of the Albany Herald from those dates? Possibly other newspapers in the adjacent counties? Obits, sheriff and police reports.
This is all open record stuff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.