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Thurmond and Sharpton

Roadtoad

Bufo Caminus Inedibilis
Roadtoad
Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
15,468
Location
Citrus Heights, CA
Whoa. I don't even know where to begin with this one.

The Daily News said professional genealogists, working at the newspaper's behest, recently uncovered the ancestral ties between one of the nation's best known black leaders and a man who was once a prominent defender of segregation.

"I have always wondered what was the background of my family," the newspaper quoted Sharpton as saying. "But nothing — nothing — could prepare me for this."

"It's chilling. It's amazing."
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For once, I actually agree with Sharpton about something. I mean, seriously, to see that kind of a connection between these two families? Creepy stuff.
 
Thurman already is known to have one bi-racial daughter, I wouldn't be suprised if he had others.
 
I don't know all the details but just using logic it doesn't surprise me that prominent blacks today had ancesotrs that were owned by ancestors of prominent whites today. Consider a typical slaveowner in 1800. How many slaves did he have? Then, how many descendents do those slaves have today? Then, how many descendents does the slaveowner have today? I think both of those last two numbers would be large. And that is just for one slaveowner.

I think if it were possible to have perfect genealogical records we'd see lots of connections of prominent blacks and white today. In fact, I bet some prominent whites and blacks today are even distant relatives.
 
I really don't get the "big deal" about this story. I'm sure if any blacks that have been here for at least 3 or 4 generations, go back and check, most likely their grand-parents were slaves. Also, if any white southern family with deep roots goes back, there is a good possibility of slave ownership as well.

Not ethical but not a large deal as well.

Or maybe is the point that they both involved in politics and this is somehow "ironic"? Well, at least one them was elected.

I've worked on my family tree and could use a few misfits and bad people ....

Charlie (devolving) Monoxide
 
Number Six said:
I don't know all the details but just using logic it doesn't surprise me that prominent blacks today had ancesotrs that were owned by ancestors of prominent whites today. Consider a typical slaveowner in 1800. How many slaves did he have? Then, how many descendents do those slaves have today? Then, how many descendents does the slaveowner have today? I think both of those last two numbers would be large. And that is just for one slaveowner.

I think if it were possible to have perfect genealogical records we'd see lots of connections of prominent blacks and white today. In fact, I bet some prominent whites and blacks today are even distant relatives.
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This would make it interesting if descendants of slave owners were forced to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves.
 
I HAVE worked on my family tree. It DOES have a few rogues and misfits in it. At least two of those rogues and misfits were responsible for me being here in Australia - they were transported convicts in the First and Second Fleets (Aussies will know what this means).
 
neutrino_cannon said:
This would make it interesting if descendants of slave owners were forced to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves.
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Hi:

From Article I, Section 9, of the S Constitution, after habeus corpus, we find:

No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed

From 1775-1865-ish (depending on when Union Troops entered CSA territory and freed slaves aka contrabands, slavery was legal in some of the United States, to include South Carolina and Georgia. (IIRC, that is where Thurmond's family is from.)

Where are you going with this?

DR
 
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Dagnabbit. I really wanted to start the topic on this. I wanted to call it:

Uncle Strom's Cabin​


(Maybe I can copyright it.)
 
What I find interesting isn't necessarilly the possiblity of a relationship between a prominent African American and a prominent white segregationist. If a relationship exists...it is to the family, not to Strom himself. Strom's own hippocracy was amply demonstrated in his treatment of his black "love" child. Imagine...an advocate of family christian values denying his daughter's existence and not extending to her the same support in life as his white children.

No, what is important here is that this story should remind us all what slavery really was...not some abstract fact in a history book...but men and women owning other human beings and controlling their lives and, in too too many cases, raping them (though I've heard nothing to suggest that there is a rape in this instance).

Sharpton's great grandfather was "owned." This was not some nameless, faceless "slave" of abstract history, this was a man with a family who was denied his basic rights and human dignity. It was a long time ago, but not so long ago as we might like.
 
headscratcher4 said:
What I find interesting isn't necessarilly the possiblity of a relationship between a prominent African American and a prominent European American segregationist.
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Fixed it for you. Because if you are going to refer to blacks as "African American", you must refer to whites as "European American". At least if you want to be consistant.
 
Alt+F4 said:
Thurman already is known to have one bi-racial daughter, I wouldn't be suprised if he had others.
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Strom: I never!

Al: Yes you did! You have a biracial daughter.

Strom: No, I, no....all right, yes! I did! And that ain't the only one!

(looks wistfully at Al0

Al: You mean?

...

Al: Dad?

Strom: Son!
 
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