February 26, 2007

Al Sharpton's ancestors were slaves owned by Strom Thurmond's relatives The reverend Al Sharpton is a descendant of slaves who were once the property of the Thurmonds, ancestors of the late senator Strom Thurmond is perhaps one of the strongest supporters of south segregation. [...] Dig this pic of the family grave/plot, over at NY Daily News.
posted by NuggetMaven 17 years ago
  • Slightly ironic but I can't say that I'm greatly moved by the news. The irritating part is that Strom lived a long, healthy life, seemingly without any sorrow or acknowledgement for the evil of his policies or politics. It begs the question, is there karma or a payback for evil behavior? In this case it would only hold if there were such a thing as multiple lives. So, in their next lives, what would the relationship be between Strom and Al? Monkeys, I lay down the gauntlet...
  • The idea that evil or immoral/amoral people receive some sort of supernatural comeuppance as a result of their actions or intent simply is undermined by the examples of any number of happy and evil bastards.
  • She added: "And it is wonderful that Sharpton was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was." Ouch!
  • It is sometimes argued that one's comeuppance ex post facto is in facing one's own actions honestly. If that is so, I'd bet Mr. Thurmond is probably not so proud these days.
  • What happened to people just happily believing that they are going to be punished or rewarded in the afterlife? Now it seems like people either tell me that karma will right things or that "everything happens for a reason." Yes, everything does happen for a reason. It's called a "cause." The whole karma thing is like a spiritual form of ADHD. Waiting for the afterlife is too fucking long to wait for our reward/punishment. We need it NOW.
  • *steps quietly away from bernockle*
  • Ellen Senter: "And it is wonderful that Sharpton was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was." I'm confused. Is she glad he could make something of himself in spite of having that white background?
  • I think I'm with bernockle on this, perhaps just not quite as pissed off about it. I would love it if we could get some of that instant karma stuff going on. Never seems to happen though. Too many jerks live out guilt free lives while fucking over the whole planet.
  • squidranch!
  • sexyrobot!
  • "And it is wonderful that Sharpton was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was." I suspect Ms. Senter's intention of that statement was directed towards Sharpton's forebears' slavery past. CLARIFICATION: Sharpton isn't RELATED TO Thurmond by blood. Sharpton's ancestors were slaves owned by Thurmond's ancestors. However, to find a GENETIC link of Thurmond's to the African American community, one can look no further than his very own daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams.
  • Hey Robot! What's up? You wanna gather the tribe and have a LA blow-out at casa de Squid?
  • "She also applied to join the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a genealogical society for the descendants of American Civil War veterans." Oh, the vapors that must have given them. Beautiful.
  • lovely, Essie Mae's mother was 15 when the 22 year old Strom knocked her up. Am I naive to wonder if that relationship might possibly have been consensual?
  • Yeah... I'm not sure "affair" was the best choice of words there.
  • yes, I am sure they were a modern-day Romeo and Juliet...
  • DNA will out.
  • As far as NM's clarification: I'd say there's substantial precedent for believing that Sharpton might well be corporeal witness to a Thurmond's indiscretions of yore.