The parent-child bond is not to be underestimated. People will often cling to it when all logic and facts say otherwise.
George --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > I absolutely respect her ability to handle her past with such calm, 'cause I'd still be pissed about it. But I'm surprised she so quickly commented publicly about Sharpton. Here's a man who's spent his life fighting for civil rights, getting the confirmation none of us wants: that his ancestors were owned and sold like cattle. Given Thurmond's segrationist past and secret trip to the slave quarters (so to speak), of course Sharpton is reeling. Miss Washington- Williams made a big point of remaining silent about her own heritage for decades, only coming forward reluctantly when her kids pushed her. So why is she criticizing Sharpton? If she wanted to comment, I wish she'd reached out to Sharpton with understanding and perhaps an offer to meet and talk about things with him. Or give him the same respect she gave her racist father, and just keep her feelings to herself. I felt this when she first came out a few years ago, and I may be wrong, but I think she's a sad example of how > the slaves' minds could be warped to love and respect their masters. For her to be able to say Thurmond was a "good father" in many ways? Sure, he just impregnated an underage Negro woman in a decidedly unfair (possibly coercive) relationship, hid the fact, and then spent decades keeping her people down. Do "all the good things he did for Black people" make up for all the damage he did to us by setting up institutions whose ill effects are still felt in South Carolina? So I'm to respect the fact that he gave her money? Please. > Wonder what she'll say about Sharpton's comments on the Tom Joyner Morning Show this morning? He said that if DNA tests confirm that he is related to the Thurmonds, he'll definitely be looking into legal recourse to get back some of the ill-gotten wealth they obtained from the illegal and immoral ownership of his family. > ****************************** > Thurmond's daughter says Sharpton overreacted > By Austin Fenner and Jose Martinez > New York Daily News > (MCT) > NEW YORK - The biracial daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond defended the segregationist Tuesday and criticized the Rev. Al Sharpton for "overreacting" when he learned his ancestors had been enslaved by Thurmond's relatives. > "His reaction, to me, was overbearing. He seemed too upset," said Essie Mae Washington-Williams, who revealed shortly after Thurmond's death in 2003 that she was his illegitimate daughter. > "In spite of being a segregationist, he did many wonderful things for black people," Washington-Williams, 81, said of her father. "I kind of feel that there was a little bit of an overreaction here." > Ancestry.com genealogists discovered the link between Sharpton and Thurmond after an intensive two-week search unearthed an 1861 slave contract. The document showed that the reverend's great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton Sr., was enslaved by Julia Ann Thurmond Sharpton, a distant relative of the late senator. > As the New York Daily News broke the story Sunday, Sharpton said, "It was probably the most shocking thing in my life." > But Washington-Williams said Sharpton should try to make peace with his family's link to the white slave owners. "If it had been any other family, maybe he wouldn't have reacted the way he did," she said Tuesday. > Strom Thurmond fathered his biracial daughter when he was 22, and her mother, a black maid for the Thurmond family, was 16. > But even as he ran for President on a segregationist platform in 1948, Thurmond did not shy away from his duties as a dad, Washington- Williams said. > He put her through college and visited her often, she said. > "We had a 62-year relationship," she said. "He's done many wonderful things for my family." > Thurmond's other children - whom Washington-Williams referred to as her brothers and sister - have not publicly commented on their family tree. > "They have always been very quiet," said Washington-Williams, adding that she maintains a "good relationship" with the Thurmond family. > Washington-Williams, a retired educator who lives in California, was in South Carolina to sign copies of her book, "Dear Senator," which chronicles her once-hidden relationship with Thurmond. > "I'm not sure that Rev. Sharpton is aware of the many things Strom Thurmond has done for South Carolina," she said. "He just knows about the things said about segregation." > When told of Washington-Williams' comments, Sharpton said his situation was different than hers. > "I was given specific accounting about my great-grandfather as chattel property and used against their will for profit in two different states," Sharpton told The News from Miami. "No one should minimize how their family was considered property and less than human." > Sharpton said his reaction to the news about his forefather enduring the hardships of slavery would have been the same, even if there wasn't a Thurmond connection. > "I respect her and the dignity of the way she dealt with her personal pain. I'm dealing with the pain of an ugly social and illegal arrangement," he said. > But if DNA tests that Sharpton plans to take prove he is a blood relative of the Thurmonds, Washington-Williams said she will gladly open her arms to him. > "Welcome to the fold," she said. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >
