Sharpton wants DNA test to check for Thurmond link

[Judi Lynn]

Sharpton wants DNA test to check for Thurmond link
POSTED: 11:36 a.m. EST, February 26, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond through his great-grandfather, a slave owned by an ancestor of the late senator.

"I can't find out anything more shocking than I've already learned," Sharpton told the Daily News, which on Sunday reported the link based on genealogists' findings.

Sharpton's spokesman, Rachel Noerdlinger, confirmed Monday for The Associated Press that Sharpton plans to pursue DNA testing, but had no further details.

Sharpton and Thurmond didn't appear to have much in common: Thurmond ran for president in 1948 as a segregationist. Sharpton ran for president in 2004 calling for racial equality. Last week, Sharpton learned about the connection.
(snip/...)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/26/sharpton.thurmond.ap/index.html

[babylonsister]

1. I thought Thurmond would be spinning over this news, but now see

how disturbing it must be to Rev. Al, also! :rofl:

[Tekla West]

2. I'm not sure who that would be worse news for

Would it be worse for Al to have some of Strom's gene pool, or worse for Strom to look at Al as a shirttail relation. One heck of a Thanksgiving dinner party happening there.

[aquart]

3. Oh, he's having way too much fun with this.

Go for it, Al!

[robinlynne]

4. I thought the relationship was that Thurmond's ancestors had Sharpton's

ancestors as slaves.

[gratuitous]

5. The Thurmond Family has a history

The Thurmond Family, and Strom personally, has a history of taking liberties with the help. If Sharpton's family has a connection to the Thurmond household, it's possible that Al has some blood relation to Strom.

I wonder if he would be in line for any of Strom's estate?

[goclark]

8. Didn't Thurmond have a Black Daughter? nt

[Virginia Dare]

9. Yes, he did...

her mother was the family maid. The woman, Essie Mae Washington kept quiet about it until after his death. There had been rumors about it for years.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/15/thurmond..paternity/

[robinlynne]

14. yes he does.

[nodehopper]

17. yes, and slaveowners frequently took advantage of their slaves

[rodeodance]

19. Yes, that is the 'relatedness" I read about a few days ago.

[rodeodance]

20. But, seems he wants to check the Biological link (not just paper trail)

.........Professional genealogists, who work for Ancestry.com, found that Sharpton's great-grandfather Coleman Sharpton was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.

"Based on the paper trail, it seems pretty evident that the connection is there," said Mike Ward, a genealogist with Ancestry.com, who called the link "amazing."

Ancestry.com's chief family genealogist, Megan Smolenyak, said Sharpton would need to match his DNA with a present-day descendant to see if they are biologically related.

"I think the odds are slim he would match," Smolenyak told the News. "There is no particular evidence to suggest that there is a direct relationship between the two (black and white) Sharpton families to suggest they share a common ancestry. But, given the legacy of plantation society, you can't rule it out."

The revelations surfaced after Ancestry.com contacted a Daily News reporter who agreed to have his own family tree done. The intrigued reporter then asked Sharpton if he wanted to participate. Sharpton said he told the paper, "Go for it."

[LiberalFighter]

6. Hmmm at first I thought would Al really want to know that but then again

Thurmond probably would get the nastier end of the stick.

I wonder who else we could connect with the dna? Pat Robertson? Ralph Reed? Gingrich?

[Joe Chi Minh]

16. Not for him. Anthropologists will tell you that, to individuals of higher social status -

no matter how misbegotten and foul the hierarchy - sexual congress with putative inferiors is OK, but eating at the same table with them, is not. It's difficult to imagine a more disgusting item of news for Al Sharpton though.

[Virginia Dare]

25. Laws against miscegenation in this country had one primary..

purpose, to keep the white serving class and the black serving class from uniting against the white aristocracy.

[Joe Chi Minh]

28. I don't doubt it. But imagine having an ancestor of Thurmond in your family tree!

It's hardly significant, but it's difficult to take on board that a man of the egregious intelligence and charisma of Al Sharpton could possibly have inherited from such a sorry gene-pool, isn't it?

[CottonBear]

7. FYI: Strom Thurmond , Jr. is/was James Brown's probate attorney.

Both James Brown and Strom Thurmond Jr. were/are South Carolinians.

Storm Sr. had a black duaghter who, I believe, is still living.

[rodeodance]

18. She spoke in public about it a few years ago (has a book?).

[Virginia Dare]

10. I guess the Thurmonds might want to consider...

renting a bigger hall for the family reunion this year...:D

Genealogy can be a dangerous thing sometimes. You never know who is going to turn up in your family tree...:evilgrin:

[demnan]

11. This reminds me of the Thomas Jefferson family get-togethers

For years the white descendants of Jefferson did not acknowledge the black ones, who insisted on coming to occasions when the Jefferson relatives got together. Then just last year they did and had an interacial reunion of the old boy's relatives, as the whites finally accepted the reality of the Jefferson family ancestors.

[sarcasmo]

12. Am I the only one who laughed when this story broke?

[DerBeppo]

13. I did too.

And I laughed again when Rev. Al showed anything more than a passing curiosity. Does it really matter or change anything? I don't think it does.

If it turned out that John Edwards' family owned the great-great-grandfather of Alan Keyes, would it matter any more? Nope.

[Elidor]

15. Amazingly, I find myself wishing Strom was still alive for this

Rather than roasting in his well-deserved spot in hell.

[Laughing Mirror]

21. They don't look much alike

And of course they were on opposite ends of the political and social spectrum, but there's a Thurmond in many an African-American family's woodpile, so it would be fascinating to find out Thurmond is in Sharpton's.

[uppityperson]

22. On 1 hand, why? Way past is past. On other hand, I am all for it. Way past isn't way past.

[Virginia Dare]

26. I agree...

as much as some of the old-time southerners would prefer that we all (especially African-Americans) "get over" the past, the past really isn't "over" is it?

[Ian David]

23. Too bad Al didn't do this while Strom was still alive. n/t

[olddad56]

24. This just in, Storm Thurmond is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby.

[XemaSab]

27. It goes to show...

You can't pick your relatives. :eyes:

[Eugene]

29. AP: Thurmond child says Sharpton overreacted

Thurmond child says Sharpton overreacted

By KATRINA A. GOGGINS
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 27, 2007; 2:14 PM

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The biracial daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond
defended the former segregationist on Tuesday and said the Rev. Al Sharpton
"overreacted" when Sharpton learned he is a descendent of a slave owned by
the senator's relatives.

"In spite of the fact he was a segregationist, he did many wonderful things for
black people ... I'm not sure that Reverend Sharpton is aware of all the things
he did," said Essie Mae Washington-Williams, who was in South Carolina for a
speech. "I kind of feel that there was an overreaction."

-snip-

When Sharpton learned of the link, he said: "It was probably the most shocking
thing in my life."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022700763.html