Did Strom Thurmond like 'em dark?

Story from Fox News

If true, Goddamn...that would be funny. And ironic.

And not all that surprising.

I blinked in confusion at the title of this post.

And then I started laughing.

I'm still trying to figure out why she waited until *after* he died.

Because she loved him and didn't want to embarrass him.

*shaking my head* Not surprising in the least!!! And yes, oh the irony. :3eye:

Well that's the thing I understand the least about racists.

I grew up around some level of racism, and never understood how someone could like Bill Cosby's comedy albums, or Jimi Hendrix, or any of the origins of RnR, or... you name it,... and still be racist.

This morning on CNN the lawyer for the family discussed how amazed they were that the Thurmond family didn't put up a legal fight at all. Then they described the relationship between father and daughter as a real, loving father/daughter relationship, and at that point I'm just confused.

Originally posted by Undertoad
Well that's the thing I understand the least about racists.

I grew up around some level of racism, and never understood how someone could like Bill Cosby's comedy albums, or Jimi Hendrix, or any of the origins of RnR, or... you name it,... and still be racist.

This morning on CNN the lawyer for the family discussed how amazed they were that the Thurmond family didn't put up a legal fight at all. Then they described the relationship between father and daughter as a real, loving father/daughter relationship, and at that point I'm just confused.

They say he was loving eh? Interesting choice of words for a segregationist (One that advocates or practices a policy of racial segregation):

"He fought school desegregation tooth and claw. In 1957, in an attempt to defeat civil-rights legislation, he embarked on the longest filibuster in Senate history: 24 hours 18 minutes. When Lyndon Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall as the first black justice of the Supreme Court in 1967, Mr. Thurmond tormented him at the confirmation hearing by asking 60 arcane legal questions."

*from The Detestable, Decrepit Strom Thurmond


Also see:
Strom's Skeleton:

"Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson present persuasive evidence in their 1998 biography, Ol' Strom, that Thurmond sired a daughter in 1925 with a black house servant named Essie "Tunch" Butler, with whom he reputedly had an extended relationship. Though "Black Baby of Professional Racist" would seem to sail over the man-bites-dog bar of what is news, the story has never really gotten traction. The particulars of this family saga simply do not fit into the "redemption narrative" Americans tend to impose on our more regrettable bygones: Better that ol' Strom "transformed" from the Negro-baiting Dixiecrat presidential candidate of 1948 to One of the First Southern Senators To Hire a Black Aide in 1971."

I don't know much about Strom, but is he actually known to have hated minorities? His position on segregation could have come from a combination ignorance and political pragmatism instead of from hatred.

Maybe he genuinely believed that "separate but equal" would be best for everyone.

It seems he would have noticed that it didn't work at some point, though.

Originally posted by tikat
I don't know much about Strom, but is he actually known to have hated minorities? His position on segregation could have come from a combination ignorance and political pragmatism instead of from hatred.

Maybe he genuinely believed that "separate but equal" would be best for everyone.

It seems he would have noticed that it didn't work at some point, though.

I don't know if he ever came out of his face to say, "I hate them thar niggars", but when it came to the legislative end of things...well, see for yourself:

Strom Thurmond on Civil Rights

Jeez louise! :rar:

I guess anyone can have a change of heart...George Wallace seemed to go through one, and Strom seemed to "soften" up in his later years as well. I'm still suspicious though...of course, I'm suspicious by nature.

I saw the lawyer on the Today show this morning. The woman seems genuine in her intent, but, being suspicious by nature, you never know these days...

Originally posted by sycamore
I guess anyone can have a change of heart...

Indeed. Robert Byrd was a member of the KKK, but is now one of the few voices of reason in Congress.

He has his moments, but he seems to be getting a bit senile as a whole...or more senile, depending on how you look at it.

Originally posted by ladysycamore
see for ourself:
Strom Thurmond on Civil Rights

I guess I was right not to be too broken up about his untimely demise.

I mean Methuselah style 'untimely', not James Dean style 'untimely'.

I haven't had time to look over it, but that issues2000 site looks like a great resource.

Originally posted by ladysycamore


I don't know if he ever came out of his face to say, "I hate them thar niggars", but when it came to the legislative end of things...well, see for yourself:

Strom Thurmond on Civil Rights

Jeez louise! :rar:

He was probably a racist at heart but his voting record could simply reflect what he honestly felt his constituents wanted or at least his contributors.
I can believe he loved his daughter, maybe even her mother although she was only 16 and he was I think 22. I also believe his daughter lived in CA, away from his work in the south.

Originally posted by OneWittyWoman
I'm still trying to figure out why she waited until *after* he died.

Well, could be one of two reasons. One, she *was* receiving an annual stipend, possibly with the codicil that she not reveal this certain bombshell, undoubtedly embarassing Mr. Thurmond right the hell out of office, or Two, she might have been a truly decent human being who didn't think that destroying a man for her own benefit or revenge or closure was right.

Personally, I'm going with One, here. Either way, I didn't much like the racist SOB anyway, and he lived a good, long life, so I mourn him little. Certainly, no more than anyone else who goes.

Strom died? Yay!

Well.. I suppose he's been mostly dead for a while, just not walking like it.