Essie Mae Washington-Williams is not a household name; she is not someone with whom most Americans are familiar. That she died early this month probably resulted in far more attention than she would have desired. For 78 of her 87 years, Mrs. Williams lived, in a sense, a shadowy existence. Nothing really sinister; just by choice mostly, declining to reveal in totality, the full and complete dimensions of her famous heritage and lineage.
In December, 2003, Mrs. Williams decided to share, by entering into the public domain, a deeply personal secret of more than seven decades. Back home, in her native
The history, accomplishments, and overarching legacy of Strom Thurman fill a virtual palette with factoids, many of them of the simply amazing variety. The list includes, but is not limited to:
·
He lived to be
100 years old
·
He served 40
years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves
·
He attained the
rank of Major General (two stars)
·
He served in
World War II and the Normandy Campaign
·
He was awarded
the Legion of Merit (twice)
·
He was awarded the
Bronze Star with valor
·
He was awarded
the Purple Heart
·
He was awarded
the World War II Victory Medal
·
He was awarded
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
·
He was awarded
the Order of the Crown
·
He was awarded the Croix de Guerre (FrenchCross of War)
·
He served as the
103rd Governor of South Carolina
·
He served as the
U.S. Senator from South Carolina
·
He served as
President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate for 6 years
·
He was the 1st
President Pro Tempore Emeritus of the United States Senate; a capacity he held
for 2 years
·
He was the only
Senator to reach age 100 while still in office
·
He was the
longest serving Dean of the U.S. Senate (14 years)
The Senator’s impressive
resume of service and achievement aside, Thurmond was probably best known for
his strident ideological posture. To put
it bluntly, Mr. Thurmond was an avowed segregationist for much of his enduring
political career. He ran for President
in 1948 as a member of the States Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrat). He would go on to represent the State of South Carolina
Due to his opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, he conducted the
longest filibuster
ever by a lone Senator, 24 hours, 18 minutes, nonstop. He would later oppose the civil rights
legislation of 1964 and 1965. The
Senator always insisted he was never a racist, but opposed excessive federal
authority. He was quoted saying that:
"All the laws of Washington
He attributed the movement
for integration to Communist agitators.
This would prove to be an interesting juxtaposition, for several
reasons. Starting in the 70’s, he
moderated his position on race, yet, he continued defending his early segregationist campaigns on the basis of states'
rights in the context of Southern society at the time. In other words, he never fully renounced his
earlier viewpoints.
With that, we come back full-circle,
to Essie Mae. Six months after Thurmond's
death in 2003, it was revealed that at age 22, he had fathered a mixed-race
daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, with
his family's maid, Carrie Butler, a 15-year-old black girl. Although Thurmond
never publicly acknowledged Essie Mae, he paid for her education at a historically black college and passed
other money to her for some time. His children by his marriage eventually
acknowledged her.
So it is, as we traverse the second decade of the 21st Century, we
are reminded in a post-mortem kind of way, that for all of Senator Thurmond’s
spoken commitment to the tenets of separation and segregation; a sort of
American Apartheid, in his personal, though down-low life, he fully embraced
the principles of interracial harmony and mutual satisfaction (if you know what
I mean).
In his own, totally irrational and indefensible way, the Senator undoubtedly
rationalized he was doing an honorable thing.
After all, he provided the wherewithal for his eldest child to attend
college. What more could she ask? What more could anyone expect...of a man in his position?
On the other hand, Essie Mae assumed the persona of a fatherless child. While her siblings enjoyed the complete array of rights and
privileges accorded to the children of a Senator, step-sister (in every sense
of the term) Essie Mae was neither seen, nor heard. In 2005 she published a book she wrote with William Stadiem; Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter ofStrom Thurmond, in which she explored among other things the various
aspects of her dislocation, based upon her mixed-heritage. It was nominated for a National Book Award and a Pulitzer
Prize.
While Mrs. Washington-Williams’ story in not unique in the American
tapestry, it is truly sad. I am reminded
of the Thomas Jefferson-Sally Hemings saga; yet another tale of American irony.
In Psalms 90:10 (NRSV), we are told:
“The days of our life are
seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only
toil and trouble; they soon gone, and we fly away.”
Mrs. Washington
I’m done; holla back!
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information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult
the links below:
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/essie-mae-washington-williams-daughter-strom-thurmond-kept
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