# Strom Thurmond's family feels shame for illigitimate darkie **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 20, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strom-thurmonds-family-feels-shame-for-illigitimate-darkie/220179 "2003-12-20T15:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strom-thurmonds-family-feels-shame-for-illigitimate-darkie/220179/61 "2003-12-24T20:18:42Z")
That’s a reasonable point, **Lib** , but it would be fairer to assert, rather than “She _is_ saying,” that “She _could be_ saying” it’s about the external pressure of a racially biased society. It’s still within the realm of possibility that the majority of the family is humiliated by the simple fact of a black relative and a race-mixing encounter. It could be a combination of factors. So while your argument that the NYT article cannot be taken at face value has merit, it’s a fallacy to hold that because the alternate interpretation can be made, it must be true. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strom-thurmonds-family-feels-shame-for-illigitimate-darkie/220179/62 "2003-12-25T19:31:27Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s still within the realm of possibility that the majority of the family is humiliated by the simple fact of a black relative and a race-mixing encounter. It could be a combination of factors. So while your argument that the NYT article cannot be taken at face value has merit, it’s a fallacy to hold that because the alternate interpretation can be made, it must be true. Exactly. My problem with this whole situation is that I live somewhat close to (and yet so far from) it. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt… No “but.” However, asking Ms. Freeman to keep quiet for years is a bit uncouth. She is their (much) older half-sister or aunt. She is obviously a decent woman. Being critical of her making a bit of money on her story sort of ignores the fact she showed loyalty _far_ above and beyond to her “white” relatives. Meanwhile _they_ don’t know how to feel? How about thank her for not wrecking Strom’s career as a politician? I have that five-hundred-pound-gorilla-in-the-room-that-nobody-really-wants-to-talk-about-for-good-reason feeling. Two words, or several combos: “young lust, young love, casual sex, or jungle fever.” Who cares, now? I hate to mention the gorilla again, without real evidence, but race is the major factor with those people quoted in the OP. Look at their ages, and their location (specifically – not by region). Casual sex among young people is not exactly uncommon, for one thing. I’ll let you fill in the blanks. Miami/Orlando != some parts of GA, AL. Have a big Thurmond barbecue, but ditch the racist friends. Not anyone here – the “white” Thurmonds. One of **Lib’s** articles, [MichNews.com](http://MichNews.com): > [@](#): > > All contribute to the justifiable wonder with which others view Thurmond’s home state and lend credibility to the possibility that South Carolinians are indeed insane. If Strom Thurmond rose from the dead today - and some reckon he might - voters probably would re-elect him to the Senate, sponsor a reunion for his biracial family, and politely avert their eyes from the unpleasantness of his hypocrisy. That not only sums up my point, but might have exceeded my sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strom-thurmonds-family-feels-shame-for-illigitimate-darkie/220179/63 "2003-12-26T14:37:47Z")
Cervaise > [@](#): > > So while your argument that the NYT article cannot be taken at face value has merit, it’s a fallacy to hold that because the alternate interpretation can be made, it must be true. I understand. That’s why I said originally, “But it is entirely **possible** that what Mary is ashamed of is her uncle’s part in producing an illegitimate child — of any race.” My later response to Eonwe was framed in the rhetorical style in which he posed his remark: “And that, in effect, is what I understand **is said** when I put together”. I answered with “Ms. Freeman **is saying** …” I do understand that I cannot, in actually, read her mind. Even if the very darkest interpretation about Ms Freeman is correct (and I see no reason why I should believe it is), there are two counterexamples in the persons of the other niece, Ms Senter and his son, Strom Jr. It is an ethical fallacy to extrapolate the sins of one man onto his whole family and their descendants. By that standard, quite many of us might be “racist”. Meanwhile, I’ll leave you to address the assertion quoted by Beagle, and the logical soundness of speculating that it is possible that “South Carolinians are indeed insane”. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strom-thurmonds-family-feels-shame-for-illigitimate-darkie/220179/64 "2003-12-26T14:38:31Z")
That was I, and not my wife, who posted the above. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strom-thurmonds-family-feels-shame-for-illigitimate-darkie/220179/65 "2003-12-26T15:04:25Z")
_Ms. Freeman also said that had the secret daughter been white, “it would be a whole other situation,” because public criticism would not have been as harsh._ I don’t see how this is racist. The harshness of the criticism comes from the hypocrisy shown by Thurmond by demeaning blacks after using one of them for sex. If the maid had been white, he still would have been a lecher, but not a hypocrite. Although that leaves open the question whether a sincerely consistent racist is any better than a hypocritical one. IOW, Jesse Jackson is not a hypocrite, since his extracurricular children are black, whereas the racist incarnation of Strom Thurmond is a hypocrite. Or was. At least Thurmond renounced his racism in later years. And isn’t is interesting that we aren’t getting any nonsense about how a politician’s sex life is private? 😉 Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strom-thurmonds-family-feels-shame-for-illigitimate-darkie/220179.md?page=3)