Who is Strom Thurmond?
Strom Thurmond, born in 1902, is a deeply controversial character, a long time supporter of segregation on the basis of states’ rights, and one of the longest serving members in the US Senate, surpassed only by Senator Byrd. People did not know how deeply his hypocrisy in respect to race ran until after his death in 2003, when his mixed race, illegitimate daughter, Bessie May Washington-Williams, revealed that she was in fact Thurmond’s daughter. Out of respect for her father, Washington-Williams had never sought to go public with this information during Thurmond’s lifetime, and she did receive financial support from him. However, he stood for the very things, like segregation and Jim Crow laws, that were designed to oppress and denigrate the African American race. He did later support desegregation in the South in the 1970s, but this retraction came a bit late, when Washington-Williams was already in her mid-40s. The early career of Strom Thurmond included his attendance at Clemson Co
Who is Strom Thurmond?