Thurmond's Family Acknowledges Black Woman's Claim

AP ^ | Dec. 15, 2003 | Amy Edgar

[Dr. Zzyzx]

Thurmond's Family 'acknowledges' Black Woman's Claim as Daughter By Amy Geier Edgar Associated Press Writer Published: Dec 15, 2003

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The late Sen. Strom Thurmond's family on Monday said it "acknowledges" a California woman's claim that she is his illegitimate mixed-race daughter.

"As J. Strom Thurmond has passed away and cannot speak for himself, the Thurmond family acknowledges Ms. Essie Mae Washington-Williams' claim to her heritage. We hope this acknowledgment will bring closure for Ms. Williams," the family's lawyer, J. Mark Taylor, said in a brief statement.

Contacted at his office, Taylor confirmed he was speaking for the Thurmond family but refused to give detail or answer any questions, including whether the family was in fact verifying the claims of Williams, a 78-year-old retired teacher who lives in Los Angeles.

A message left for U.S. Attorney Strom Thurmond Jr. was not immediately returned. Thurmond's widow, Nancy, said she was not taking calls from the media.

Glenn Walters, an attorney for Williams, said he believes the statement acknowledges Thurmond's paternity, though he hasn't discussed the question with the Thurmond family.

"We are happy that this matter has been resolved. Mrs. Essie Mae Washington-Williams can now take a place in history as a daughter of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond," Walters said.

Frank K. Wheaton, another lawyer for Williams, had said Saturday that his client was coming forward to claim that the nation's longest-serving senator - and one-time segregationist - was her father. Thurmond died in June at age 100.

Williams was to discuss her story at a news conference Wednesday in Columbia. Calls to her home Monday were not immediately answered.

Williams had long been rumored to be Thurmond's child, though she had previously denied it. She came forward now at the urging and encouragement of her children, Wheaton said.

Williams told The Washington Post that Thurmond privately acknowledged her as his daughter and had provided financial support since 1941. She said she waited to go public because she didn't want to embarrass herself or hurt Thurmond's career. The Post first reported her claims on its Web site Saturday.

"There was an agreement between the parties that she would never discuss the fact that Sen. Thurmond was her father," Walters said. He said Williams was not seeking money and did not want to challenge Thurmond's will.

In seven decades of politics, Thurmond gained fame and infamy as an arch-segregationist, but he later came to support a holiday for the slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

Williams claims Thurmond fathered her when he was a 22-year-old living in his parents' home in Edgefield. Her mother, Carrie Butler, 16, had been working as a maid in the Thurmonds' home.

Raised by an aunt, Williams told the Post she first met Thurmond around 1941, when she was 16, and Thurmond called her a "very lovely daughter."

She told the newspaper she received money at least once a year in sessions arranged by Thurmond's Senate staff. Wheaton said the total over the years was "very substantial" but less than $1 million.

AP-ES-12-15-03 1504EST

Copyright 2003 Associated Press

[Just mythoughts]

This is very interesting just returned from SC, picking up my son from Clemson. Drove down and toured the capital in Columbia, toooo interesting considering all that has gone on.

[onyx]

So as long as a pedophile pays child support in secret, then the pedophile has done something honorable?

Pedophile? Read the article, particucarly the paragraph below.

>>> Williams claims Thurmond fathered her when he was a 22-year-old living in his parents' home in Edgefield. Her mother, Carrie Butler, 16, had been working as a maid in the Thurmonds' home. <<<

You're a piece of work if you think Strom was a pedophile. Seventy-eight years ago, I doubt that his mating with a sixteen year old was even a crime of statutory rape.

[eddie willers]

I imagine there were miscegenation laws back then that would have got EVERYBODY in a whole heep of trouble.

[TRY ONE]

...Quick, Trent Lott should get his job back (Majority Leader) as 'ol Strom was not a segregationist after all.

Run, Trent, run!

hehehehehe

[WKB]

Can Trent have his job back now?

[WKB]

Will we find out the truth about Danny Williams when his father dies?

[JudyB1938]

Yes, it very well could have been political blackmail over the years. However, I'd like to think it was because of the Southern tradition where rich white men took care of both of their families, both black AND white. Thankfully, that archaic way of living is mostly gone.

Personally, I think he was a randy cad. It definitely wasn't him that I was taking up for. It was his daughter. She seems like a lovely and dignified person to me, just wanting to get the record straight before she died (at the request of her children).

Oops. I just thought of something. Maybe THEY want to try to cash in on that inheritance. LOL

[rebelyell]

White, Southern men STILL take care of their families....be they black or white. Strom was a good man (I knew him personally) and his son (a friend of mine) is a good man, too. There is nothing outdated about looking after your own.

[JudyB1938]

I didn't make myself clear, I guess. The way I understand it, it was common for rich white men to have two families at the same time - a white wife and a black mistress. I used to have a friend whose white father maintained two households like that. The white family was on top of the hill somewhere in Oklahoma, and the black family was at the bottom of the hill. So, I am basing my remarks mostly on what my friend told me. Heavens forbid ... I CERTAINLY didn't mean to infer that Southern men have lost their sense of duty.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a native of South Carolina, said he was struck by the similarities between Mr. Thurmond's situation and that of Jefferson, asserting that they reflected "a deep and ugly Southern tradition" of white men taking advantage of young black women in their employ.

"By day, they are bullies," Mr. Jackson said. "By night, they manipulate race to their advantage."

Referring to Mr. Thurmond and Ms. Washington-Williams, he added: "The point that strikes me the most is that he lived 100 years and never acknowledged his daughter. He never let her eat at his table. He fought for laws that kept his daughter segregated and in an inferior position. He never fought to give her first-class status. Thomas Jefferson did pretty much the same.""

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/16/national/16STRO.html

I guess Jesse is the only one with the right to keep quiet about his out-of-wedlock children. Maybe Strom should have used money from a non-profit group to silence his daughter, like Jesse did to his mistress.