Open Letter To Essie Mae Washington-Williams

You know, I'm really tired of the tired folk who need to apologize for white supremacist relatives. Yes I'm speaking to YOU Essie Mae Washington-Williams. You, Ma'am are tired.

It's bad enough that you thought it was honorable to allow Strom Thurmond to go about his white-supremacist ways, while hiding the fact of fathering a "black" child. That sad old Southern tradition of knockin' up the black maid or the tradition of going on the other side of town where white men could "split some wood" and get some sexual experiences without sullying the reputation of the Southern White Woman(tm). But To sink so low as go on the record against Al. Sharpton is extra low in my book. Extra extra low. It's all well and good that Pappy Strom was so kind to you and your family. I'm glad he took care of you. But that, my dear, is between you and him. And I suppose that the "good things" that Pappy Strom has done for the "people of South Carolina" would include the great economic positions that many black people there currently live in.

While most black folk in America, especially those of us who are not coal black, realize that we have white ancestors somewhere, it is not everyday that one of us, who have dedicated our lives to defending black people against segregationists and other white supremacists both in and out of office and in and out of uniform, find that our ancestors were the property of a family who included members who stood against everything that we are against. Perhaps you're to enthralled with Pappy Strom, to see that some of us black folk don't exactly take to such things well.

When we find that we have lived concurrently with persons who's words and actions helped to create an atmosphere that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of black people and the physical abuse of many thousands more and that persons family had owned as chattel, as debt payment, ancestors of ours, we don't particularly take that with a ho-hum attitude. but I suppose YOU wouldn't understand that would you.

So, let me close this with a little, itty bitty request. Since you had such high regard for a man who put you through school while denying you in public and creating an atmosphere of hate for millions of black people. Since you appear to understand the whole, don't disrespect someone who's done so much for people And Al Sharpton has done a lot for black people, the next time a newspaper or news program reporter asks you for your opinion about Al Sharpton's reaction to his historical connections to the Thurmond family:

Shut
Tha
Hell
Up.

Thank you.

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