[OAW]

Looks like old Strom spent his days doing his level best to preserve and promote segregation ... but spent his nights pursuing a taste of the "chocolate". Apparently he was never man enough to acknowledge his own flesh and blood, but at least his family had the decency to do so. Quite unlike the family of Thomas Jefferson.

Discuss!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...thurmond_x.htm

"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. Her lawyer said the statement brought her "a sigh of relief."


'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.


"The statement speaks for itself," Taylor said.


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.


Said Frank K. Wheaton, another attorney for Williams: "Ms. Williams shed a sigh of relief. She said 'I'm happy and very much surprised.'"


Wheaton 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. Wheaton said Williams may not release all her alleged evidence supporting the claim because of the announcement. "There may be no need," he said.


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. ThePost 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."

[BlackGriffen]

I guess this may seem a little crass, but after your comment about "dipping in the chocalte," OAW, I just had to post the following lines from this song:

"Even white boys got to shout"
"Baby got back!"



BG

[mr. natural]

"But I want to tell you something. This pattern, this 'system' that the white man created, of teaching Negroes to hide the truth from him behind a facade of grinning, 'yessir-bossing,' foot-shuffling and head scratching -- that system has done more harm than an invading army would do to him." -- The Autobiography of Malcolm X

As always, Truth is stranger than fiction.

[OAW]

Originally posted by mr. natural:
"But I want to tell you something. This pattern, this 'system' that the white man created, of teaching Negroes to hide the truth from him behind a facade of grinning, 'yessir-bossing,' foot-shuffling and head scratching -- that system has done more harm than an invading army would do to him." -- The Autobiography of Malcolm X

As always, Truth is stranger than fiction.

An interesting quote from the late, great "Brother Malcolm". I'm not sure of its relevance to the subject of this thread. But it's an interesting quote nevertheless.

OAW

[OAW]

Originally posted by BlackGriffen:
I guess this may seem a little crass, but after your comment about "dipping in the chocalte," OAW, I just had to post the following lines from this song:

"Even white boys got to shout"
"Baby got back!"



BG

Indeed. That song will has definitely turned into a Hip Hop classic! If he were still in the land of the living, can you imagine Strom Thurmond's ancient a** trying to rap the lyrics to that song?!

OAW

[The Mick]

Funny!
Nice job Strom, making your family admit to your indiscretions after you die is a bit cowardly eh?

[mr. natural]

OAW:

The point was in the idea of the 'truth.'

Which, as Malcolm suggested, harms the white man (and especially any underlying myths thereof). In this case, the myth of Strom Thrumond's bias against racial intermingling didn't quite match word with deed. But as a politician of his era, he knew which side of the bread needed buttering, eh?

Am I surprised? Not in the least. Indeed, I can imagine more than a few ol' crackers chuckling to themselves that he 'put it to one of them' as they probably wish they had or could.

However, I am somewhat impressed that Strom acknowledged his daughter in private, and with some financial support. That and that she kept such a secret until after his death is, I think, curiously revealing.

What's your feeling about this?

[zigzag]

Somehow I don't think this is what Neil Young had in mind when he wrote "A Man Needs A Maid."

[theolein]

Mad props to that woman for persisting all those years. Denying one's children, whatever the circumstances, is sad and shameful.

[mr. natural]

Posted by zigzag:

Somehow I don't think this is what Neil Young had in mind when he wrote "A Man Needs A Maid."

No, it's more like Neil's "Southern Man."

"Don't forget what your good book says...
When will you pay them back.."

[OAW]

Originally posted by mr. natural:
OAW:

The point was in the idea of the 'truth.'

Which, as Malcolm suggested, harms the white man (and especially any underlying myths thereof). In this case, the myth of Strom Thrumond's bias against racial intermingling didn't quite match word with deed. But as a politician of his era, he knew which side of the bread needed buttering, eh?

Am I surprised? Not in the least. Indeed, I can imagine more than a few ol' crackers chuckling to themselves that he 'put it to one of them' as they probably wish they had or could.

However, I am somewhat impressed that Strom acknowledged his daughter in private, and with some financial support. That and that she kept such a secret until after his death is, I think, curiously revealing.

What's your feeling about this?

I see what you are saying now. And you make a good point. As for how I feel about the entire situation, I am certainly not surprised. Strom Thurmond is just another in a long line of powerful white men who have raped and impregnated black women. It has happened since the first African slaves arrived on in this land. It is the "secret" legacy of America that is typically never discussed by white America in general, but is nevertheless quite obvious to anyone with functioning eyes and common sense. All one has to do is take a look around and see the many skin tones of African-Americans. The overwhelming majority of lighter-skinned African-Americans came to appear as they do as a result of the white slavemaster having his way with black female slaves ... and then turning around and enslaving his own children.

As for why I say he raped this woman's mother, I direct you to this excerpt from an earlier story ...

"Williams claims Thurmond fathered her long before his political career started, when he was a 22-year-old living in his parents' home in Edgefield, S.C. Her mother, then 16, had been working as a maid in the Thurmonds' home."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...nd_paternity_6

OAW

[BlackGriffen]

Originally posted by OAW:
"Williams claims Thurmond fathered her long before his political career started, when he was a 22-year-old living in his parents' home in Edgefield, S.C. Her mother, then 16, had been working as a maid in the Thurmonds' home."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...nd_paternity_6

OAW

That certainly qualifies as statutory rape, whether it was forced or not.



BG

[OAW]

Originally posted by BlackGriffen:
That certainly qualifies as statutory rape, whether it was forced or not.



BG

Indeed. And as far as his "financial support" of her over the years, I hardly find that redeeming. Sure, it's better than nothing. But given how she was never to speak of her relationship to him ... it seems to me that it was more hush money than anything else.

OAW

[zigzag]

Originally posted by mr. natural:
No, it's more like Neil's "Southern Man."

"Don't forget what your good book says...
When will you pay them back.."

You're right. In light of the tone of OAW's original comments, the fact that the daughter appears to have positive feelings towards Thurmond, and no allegations of rape, I saw some humor in the story. If I shouldn't have, I apologize.

[docbud]

Isn't the legal age of consent in South Carolina 14? And wasn't that the legal age back then also? If the current age of consent was (and still is) 14, it can't be statuatory rape.
doc

[mr. natural]

Posted by OAW:

as far as his "financial support" of her over the years, I hardly find that redeeming. Sure, it's better than nothing. But given how she was never to speak of her relationship to him ... it seems to me that it was more hush money than anything else.

Indeed!

Her silence also speaks, I think, to the insidious perpetuation of the powerful racist reality & taboos which this whole episode raises. To have dared to say anything publicly before now would have been frightful.

So, to the extent that I am "impressed," it has to do with the fact that Strom played this 'secret' well vis a vis his political stance. He figured right about his 'illegitimate' daughter.

[mr. natural]

Posted by zigzag:

You're right. In light of the tone of OAW's original comments, the fact that the daughter appears to have positive feelings towards Thurmond, and no allegations of rape, I saw some humor in the story. If I shouldn't have, I apologize.

Hey, I certainly didn't mean to take you for task over this. I got your tongue in cheek reference. I was only suggesting an alternative Neil Young vision.

[Spliffdaddy]

Well, he WAS a Democrat.

You folks act surprised that he was dishonest.

[BlackGriffen]

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
Well, he WAS a Democrat.

You folks act surprised that he was dishonest.

Yes, and he was so shamed by his lies that he had to become a Republican.



BG