To summerize, shaptons great get git grandmama was a slave owned by Thurmond's family

The Rev. Al Sharpton is a descendant of a slave owned by relatives of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond -- a discovery the civil rights activist called "shocking" on Sunday.

Sharpton learned of his connection to Thurmond, once a prominent defender of segregation, last week through the Daily News, which asked genealogists to trace his roots.

"It was probably the most shocking thing in my life," Sharpton said at a news conference Sunday, the same day the tabloid revealed the story. (Watch Sharpton react to the news Video)

Some of Thurmond's relatives said the nexus also came as a surprise to them. Doris Strom Costner, a distant cousin who said she knew the late senator all her life, said Sunday she "never heard of such a thing."

"My momma never would talk to me about nothing like that," Costner said of ancestors who owned slaves. "She only talked to me about good things."

The revelations surfaced after Ancestry.com contacted a Daily News reporter who agreed to have his own family tree done. The intrigued reporter then turned around and asked Sharpton if he wanted to participate. Sharpton said he told the paper, "Go for it."

The genealogists, who were not paid by the newspaper, uncovered the ancestral ties using a variety of documents that included census, marriage and death records.

They found that Sharpton's great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.

2/26/2007 5:41:26 PM

OWNED!

2/26/2007 5:47:22 PM

So are they actually related? Sounds like a pretty tenuous link.

Quote :

"OWNED!"

aha! Sharpton is gonna go around demanding his 40 acres and a mule from the Thurmond family.

[Edited on February 26, 2007 at 6:00 PM. Reason : 2]

2/26/2007 5:58:30 PM

would be funnier if it was Byrd that had slave connections to him

2/26/2007 5:59:39 PM

yeah who said they are related? damn, reading skills?

sharpton's ancestor was 0\/\/n3d thurmond's ancestor.

2/26/2007 6:05:45 PM

OK THEY'RE NOT FAMILY. I DIDN'T NOTICE IT'S HARD TO READ THE ARTICLE!?

2/26/2007 11:27:59 PM

Until I see DNA testing proving otherwise, I'm telling errybody they related.

2/27/2007 12:04:47 AM

http://tinyurl.com/337tyt

Quote :

"The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond through his great-grandfather, a slave owned by an ancestor of the late senator."

Yeah, I'm going to wait on the DNA test. I wonder which DNA strand accounts for slave ownership? I guess he is going for the angle that one of Thurmond's ancestors had a child with one of his slaves.


[Edited on February 27, 2007 at 7:52 AM. Reason : -]

2/27/2007 7:49:38 AM

notice that it's not a direct link either

Quote :

"They found that Sharpton's great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed."

the family tree would look something like this

2/27/2007 8:04:41 AM

Quote :

"Yeah, I'm going to wait on the DNA test. I wonder which DNA strand accounts for slave ownership? I guess he is going for the angle that one of Thurmond's ancestors had a child with one of his slaves."

which is extremely likely. and you test the mitochondrial DNA to determine if someone is related. Christ I hate mormons.

2/27/2007 8:15:36 AM

Yeah, all slave owners had children with their slaves... it's a default. Oh, and in case you didn't notice... the strand comment was sarcasm - unless DNA carries info on who owned who - I haven't kept up.

P.S. You sure are fixated on the mormon thing of late. I wonder if it has anything to do with how the
biggest homophobes are closet gays.

2/27/2007 8:31:43 AM