Woman Claims Thurmond As Father (WP)

[Bushfire]

Proof Forthcoming, Black Retiree Says
By Marilyn W. Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 14, 2003; Page A01


A 78-year-old retired Los Angeles schoolteacher said she is breaking a lifetime of silence to announce that she is the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of former U.S. senator James Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), once the nation's leading segregationist. In an interview, the woman said that Thurmond privately acknowledged her as his daughter and provided financial support since 1941.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams described her claims in a lengthy telephone interview last week, saying she protected Thurmond because of their mutual "deep respect" and her fears that disclosure would embarrass her and harm his political career. Thurmond, who died in June at age 100, said late in life through his office that Williams was a friend.

Williams, whose mother worked as a maid in the Thurmond family home as a teenager, has long been the subject of widespread speculation and has been pursued by journalists seeking her story for two decades. She always denied that she is Thurmond's daughter.

"I want to bring closure to this," said Williams, who plans to hold a news conference Wednesday in Columbia, S.C. "It is a part of history."

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60363-2003Dec12.html

more Republican family values... I do respect her right to privacy as she has blood relations to Strom, but I can't respect (even in death) for keeping this a secret.

Mods. please lock or move if not LBN.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Can this be proven?

Is there any Thurmund DNA around?

[mobuto]

2. She doesn't need to do that

She should have canceled checks from South Carolina if what she says is true. Normally, I would give a damn one way or the other, but in this instance, Thurmond was such a hypocrite on racial issues, I'd be interested in the answer.

[CatWoman]

9. lol

Strom = modern day Thomas Jefferson.

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice :evilgrin:

[kskiska]

10. I was about to say the same thing, Cat

What's the difference between Thurmond and Jefferson?

:hi:

[JackSwift]

25. Jefferson was a genius and a great man

Thurmond was just a political hack.

[kskiska]

35. Wasn't referring to intellect.

Jefferson was in a whole different league.

While Strom was running for president on the Dixiecrat ticket, to uphold segregation, he had a black daughter in the closet. If he'd been outed back then, he would have had no political career.

[CatWoman]

38. However, Jefferson was outed by a newspaper reporter

the blame of fatherhood was placed on his nephews.

[truthisfreedom]

3. DNA may not be necessary, but he probably has relatives, and

she may have written documentation, letters, that sort of thing.

[Lithos]

4. That's the problem

He was quite free with his DNA during his lifetime. There are many people who can claim his parentage.

[salin]

15. lol... hence his mid-1980s nick name on the Hill: Spermin' Thurman. n/t

[TacticalPeek]

5. Strom was clean and white on the outside.

[LiberalFighter]

41. Depends on whose eyes

[amazona]

6. I am glad she is coming forward

It would be hard to claim such a man as a father in public, but now that he is passed, it is indeed a part of history and sheds light on his hypocrisy. It would have no doubt been easier for her to keep silent her whole life. I salute her courage.

[dfong63]

14. now that it's too late

she protected that racist bugger while he was living, and in the senate, spewing racist filth and doing much harm to the nation. she let an evil evil man go to the grave in peace. too bad.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

27. Given that it appears he was her father, she had every right to do so

This must have created a huge internal conflict in her life.

[dfong63]

32. maybe she had a right to do it, but i don't have to admire her for it

This must have created a huge internal conflict in her life.

yeah, evil always creates internal conflicts, doesn't it? you go along with it, or you fight it. she apparently was willing to go along with it. and why not? after all, her silence was paid for.

[LiberalFighter]

42. Making sure the Thurmond legacy lives on

[Iverson]

7. problem

This compels us to associate, however briefly, Strom Thurmond and sex. Gack!

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

[DUreader]

8. "...a teenager..."

?

[truthisfreedom]

13. underage mother?

[LizW]

11. If I'm not mistaken

this was never much of a secret in the south. It was one of those hush-hush, "not mentioned in polite conversation" sort of things.

You know, the hypocracy that Republicans get away with and Democrats get crucified for.

[fortyfeetunder]

28. Blame it on unborn Bill Clinton's pecker!

Strom siring a child with jailbait. What a pervert. He must have blamed this on Bill Clinton...and we all know there was no Bill Clinton in 1925....

[kodi]

12. strom loved the people, but he loved too damn many of them

.

[ajacobson]

16. A new meaning for servicing the constituents.

[rocktivity]

17. When you die, your right to privacy dies with you

that was what New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said when he tried to justify the shooting of an unarmed man by the police by opening the victim's sealed sealed juvenile record. It didn't matter to him that the victim had been in no legal trouble SINCE he had been a juvenile! Well, I'm glad his woman is coming forward, and that's she's too old for the GOP to do her any real harm...hope she's not on Medicaid.


rocknation

P.S. If Thurmond had been elected President, he wouldn't be having these problems.

[Ediacara]

18. This outa be a media circus

Although I have the highest respect for Mrs Washington-Williams... I can't imagine being the child of Satan...

[Wonk]

40. NYT, SF Chronicle, and Fort Worth Star Telegram links here

NYT
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/13/national1908EST0557.DTL
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/7485305.htm

(fixed link)

[kskiska]

19. Interesting items

Williams said she and Thurmond "never talked politics," although she did question him gently about segregationist comments that had upset some of her friends. "He said that's just the way things were. That was his life. He was pleasing his supporters," she said.

(snip)

Williams said that Thurmond lectured her on the importance of exercise and proper diet, his lifelong obsessions. Then, she said, he asked a memorable question.

Williams said Thurmond asked her, "How does it feel to have your father as governor and not be able to claim him?' " She said she told the governor it felt just fine.

[calimary]

21. GAK! What a situation. How does it feel? Sheesh!

Hey, I'm glad this is coming out. TOO bad we all didn't know about it sooner.

I'd like to hear Trent Lott weighing in on this.

[Judi Lynn]

24. You're so right!

This would be an exceptional time to get a really good quote from Trent Lott.

God knows, you couldn't KEEP him quiet at the Stromster's birthday party. He outdid himself! Got himself into trouble, having to really stretch for an apology afterward, too.

[kskiska]

36. I have to wonder

whether Trent has some secrets in his past, too.

[amazona]

37. good quote

<Williams said Thurmond asked her, "How does it feel to have your father as governor and not be able to claim him?' " She said she told the governor it felt just fine.

>

I wouldn't want to claim him either! Tee hee.

[LiberalFighter]

44. Pleasing his supporters??

When segregation is wrong? Doesn't say much about his integrity. And gives politicians a bad name too. No wonder voters have a bad taste.

[Bushfire]

20. comment should have read...can't respect Strom for ... this secret

he could have forwarded civil rights by 50+ years if he did the right thing, and owned up to his child. The GOP will never be "compassionate" in my eyes.

[SoCalDem]

22. Ole Strom was a wealthy man.. I hope she gets some of it

although at 78, she's a bit old herself to get much out of it.. I am sure she has children /grandchildren who will benefit from some of Strom's reparations to her family..

It is sad though that this was never an "issue" with his constituents when it would have mattered..

[kskiska]

23. He only left $200,000

Not much, really.

[lebkuchen]

31. Sounds like he dispersed it into estates before kicking the bucket

to avoid taxes.

[SmokeyBlues]

26. This is old news

Many people have long suspected that Williams was the daughter of Strom Thurmond. In fact, Black Commentator wrote about this late last year and included pictures of the woman when she attended an historically-Black college.

What folks have to understand is that in the Jim Crow South white men having sex with Black women was nothing out of the ordinary. To many it was a rite of passage.

I'm happy that Williams is finally coming foward with the truth.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SmokeyBlues]

30. Maybe so

There were many names for it, so I suppose that 'a change in luck' would be one of them. But it's important to understand that the majority of these clandestine sexual encounters were not consensual; they were nothing more than a continuation of the same brutal practice that flourished during slavery. If you want to call what occurred rape, then I won't argue with you.

What's even more tragic is that this practice didn't stop with single Black women...married Black women were also 'fair game'. There are documented instances where white men would make the Black husband wait outside of the house until their 'luck changed', and then comment to the husband on the way out how lucky he was for having such a 'sweet' wife.

It just shows you how powerless Black folks in the South were where a husband couldn't even defend his wife's honor lest he would be killed. It also goes without saying that this type of thing imposed severe stress on the marriage or relationship.

I'm dismayed that some people in this thread can find humor out of a practice that degraded Black people even more. But hey, I suppose that's what meant by the term valuing diversity

*edited for clarity.

[readmylips]

33. Jeez, you just turned my stomach....

what a bunch of 'white' animals. I grew up with a black neighbor who was almost 'white.' If you made comments about her 'whiteness,' she would be offended and would set you straight by saying,'yeah, the whiteness of my skin is a reminder of a white man's brutal rape against my grand mother.' She was also very educated and made sure you knew the facts about black history.

[markses]

43. Or, as Ice Cube says

"Cuz the Devil is a savage muthafuckah
That's why I'm lighter than the average brothah."

[Fleshdancer]

34. I feel sorry for her. eom

[Lisa]

39. well, evidently he didn't believe in total segregation ...

That is, in keeping black and white people completely apart! Or this would not have happened.

But seriously, I wish her well and hope that she has a robust sense of humor about all of this.

[Isome]

45. Article from 1996 - REPRINTED on blackcommentator.com

.::.blackcommentator article.::.

"... At the same time he was preaching segregation now and forever, Thurmond discreetly was financing the education of a black coed business administration major at all-black South Carolina State College in Orangeburg.

...had it become known at the time, could have ended Thurmond's remarkable political career before it even got started, said Southern historian Robert Sherrill.

Thurmond's relationship with and support of this black woman has continued to this day, according to the woman's in-laws and members of Thurmond's Senate staff.

...those who knew of the unusual relationship back then see no contradiction in Thurmond's championing segregation while helping a young black woman get ahead in life...

in supporting a black woman he supposedly sired, remained loyal to one of the codes of his youth, said Bennettsville lawyer Frank E. Cain, a classmate of the woman purported to be the senator's daughter at South Carolina State in the late 1940s.

That code required white boys, who often learned about sex "on the colored side of town," to take care of any children they fathered.

..."That's the old South."

...The story of Essie Washington is well-known in South Carolina among people, black and white, who lived in the state and were active in politics in the late 1940s and 1950s when this tale circulated widely."

Someone remarked that it was too bad "we" didn't know about this sooner. WE'VE always known about this, and we've always tried to communicate to people that instances like these weren't uncommon occurrences. What's too bad is that some Americans, those wearing black skin, are not taken seriously when relaying our perspectives or stories, based on hundreds of years of oral history and many decades of written history. Had ya' listened, you would have heard of this. At the very least, few would be surprised, nor in any way in doubt of the veracity of the tale.