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    • « Raising Hell Appreciation Post | Home | Jim Brown Ain’t Playin »

    Just…wow

    By Avery | February 25, 2007

    Al Sharpton’s ancestors were owned by Strom Thurmond’s ancestors.

    By AUSTIN FENNER
    DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

    The Rev. Al Sharpton, a descendant of slaves, stands in front of papers documenting his ancestors were owned by the family of Sen. Strom Thurmond.
    In a revelation that will stun the nation, the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of America’s most powerful black leaders, has unearthed a shattering family secret - his ancestors were slaves owned by relatives of the late South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond.

    Now in a way, I think there’s definitely a certain irony in that, although to be fair, anybody who’s descended from enslaved people is gonna have some commonalities with somebody. But Al Sharpton and Strom Thurmond, though? Wow. But that’s not really the big wow for me. The big wow is the reaction of Strom Thurmond’s family.

    Relatives of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond greeted news of the family’s shocking connection to the Rev. Al Sharpton yesterday with some nervous chuckles and one outright denial.

    “That’s a bunch of baloney,” said Barry Bishop, the son of one of Thurmond’s sisters.

    Now I’m not about injecting race where it doesn’t belong, but this here is all about race. So I’m trying to figure out…what does the family think it has to gain by denying or even questioning whether their ancestors owned Sharpton’s ancestors? That’s the really ignorant part. You’d think they had said Al was their first cousin or something.

    What this really makes me wonder is what I’m gonna find out when I continue my research about my own family. Right now, I’m trying to figure out what questions I need to ask and where I would go to get the answers. So if anybody has already done this type of research, I’d be grateful for any procedural information you could share.

    But wow. Just goes to show, you never know.

    Topics: Everwhatever |

    2 Responses to “Just…wow”

    1. DarkStar Says:
      February 25th, 2007 at 11:03 pm

      Wow is correct.

    2. Bijan C. Bayne Says:
      February 26th, 2007 at 4:11 pm

      They’re gonna really think it’s baloney when they run Rev’s DNA and learn the two families are, um, “related”.

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