Sen. Strom Thurmond
 

I just heard that Sen. Strom Thurmond passed away.

For those of you who didn't know, his second wife, Nancy Moore, was an Alpha Delta Pi.

Since I don't know if I did the link right above, the link to the Yahoo! page is: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../obit_thurmond

i just studied him a couple weeks ago in history class. you know he holds the record for the longest filibuster...in high school i learned he managed that by actually sitting down and reading the phone book to the senate. i admire him for holding on the way he did for so long, even if he was completely misguided thoughout his life.

I just posted this under Official News, because I didn't know whether this was the appropriate fora or not.

What was interesting in the Yahoo article was that it seemed that he tried to make up for his racist beginnings. Gotta love an old dog who learns new tricks!

This is an extraordinary loss to the people of America. Strom Thurmond was a great man and a great Senator representing the people of South Carolina for almost 50 years. Despite your views on his political platform, you must respect the man and how much he dedicated for his country. He was a public servant his entire life, from county school superintendent, to governor, to the longest-serving Senator in American history.

He was a great soldier, being awarded five Battle Stars and eighteen decorations, medals and honors for his service in World War II. They include the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, Belgian Order of the Crown and French Croix de Guerre.

Despite being exempt from the Draft, he enlisted anyway. He landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, flying past the front lines in order to prevent German reinforcements from reaching the area. Before the end of the war, he helped liberate Paris, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and helped fight into Germany.

J. Strom Thurmond was a great American and every American should be mourning over this great loss. Please hold his family in your thoughts and prayers.

http://www.startribune.com/stonline/...sh26.jpg.l.jpghttp://www.strom.clemson.edu/strom/g...photos/16b.jpg

i'm sorry for his wife...

and it's sad that he died...

but i must say i praised the Lord when he finally retired from his position bc he was WAY too conservative for today's people.

:(

He really put everything into his job and country. It's amazing how long he lasted. Sad on his passing, but he wasn't the greatest person in the world - he did run for president on a strong policy of racial segregation. Alas, it was the time when people thought it was right.

how sad......but what a long and serving life he lead.

i understand that people may have issues with some of his beliefs in the past, but please....let's not speak ill of the dead. he served SC wonderfully through the years, so let's focus on that! :)

and docet....what a nice post on all that he accomplished...thanks for the info!

Sad to to see the loss of Brother Thurmond, he lived a long and fullfilled life.

That's really sad - I am very impressed by everything he accomplished. I never agreed with his politics, but he was an amazing man, and I'd be happy to accomplish half as much in my life as he did in his.

I believe the man changed many of his views over the years. I couldn't name many people who were in the public eye for such a long span of years. It's easy to confuse the Strom of 50 years ago with the Strom of recent years. I'd wager they'd be two entirely different folks.

Regardless of his politics or ideas, what he did was pretty damned amazing. He loved his country and he served it the best way that he knew how.

You have to respect that about him.

A hundred years of life and 83 of service. Strom Thurmond was quite the man.

The State reported that his daughter Julie had a son on June 16, just 10 days before Strom died. It didn't mention any other grandchild or at least I didn't read about it. Is one of his sons a father?

Oh, yeah? Well, try this one:

“And I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there’s not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigger race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes and into our churches.”

Spoken by yours truly, Good ol' Strom. Forgive me if I'm not all broken up over here. :rolleyes:

I was waiting for this to pop up on Thurmond. It's true that he might be looked at as being racist for some of the remarks he made in the past, but over the course of his lifespan he more than made up for the mistakes he made in the past. I think now in his death it would be kind of pointless to hold any grudges against the man.

The Senator was an obvious racist when he began his career.

It seem equally obvious the he changed dramatically over the years, including being the first Southern Senator to employ a black person on his staff.

The "bad rubbish" comment was uncalled for under the circumstances.

You're entitled to your opinion, as am I. If I see Strom as being bad rubbish, than that is what I stand by. You are in no position to determine what is and what is not called for.

Fine.

In my opinion, the "bad rubbish" comment was uncalled for under the circumstances.

Yeah, and so was the "nigger" comment under any circumstance.

Why is it that when some one dies, suddenly all their wrongful actions, however terrible, must suddenly be overlooked? Dead or alive, the man was awful, in my opinion. I'm not going to suddenly revere him just because he no longer draws breath.

Agreed. If she had said something similar three days ago, nobody would have batted an eyelash. I honestly don't think Strom Thurmond cares anymore that he's dead than he would have when he was living, so why should it suddenly matter now that he's dead?

May it be said again: Do not speak ill of the dead. I'm sure none of us are without flaws and personally I wouldn't want mine dredged back up after my death when I can't defend myself. Show some respect or keep quiet. It's better for us to wonder if you're an idiot than for you to post some crap and leave us no doubt.

For the record, you have NEVER seen me use that term.

A number of people aren't overlooking Thurman's record of racism, just reacting to the changes he made over the course of his life and career.

"To err is human, to forgive, devine."

Oh come on now. Like I said, if she had posted something bad about Strom three days ago nobody would have cared. And it has nothing to do with him "not being able to defend himself now" because it's not like he sat around reading the GC message boards before he died.

The guy did some terrible isht which, in my opinion, can't be "erased" by the fact that he later tried to make up for it. That doesn't excuse the fact that it happened in the first place. Do I think that he's a horrible person? No. But do I think that the fact that he died means that we should all bow down and praise him? Again, no.

I certainly wasn't suggesting that you used the term. I was referring to Strom's quote.

And as far as the last comment goes.... to err is to blunder, to make a mistake. I don't consider supporting a system that oppresses of an entire race of people an err. And on the whole forgiveness thing... I hope he sought it before he died.

And who deleted my "bad rubbish" comment? Oh, I see.... people can profess their love for this blatant racist, but I can't voice my views. What kind of isht is that? But, I am LMAO that the "nigger" comment stayed. Y'all are too much for me.

Bamboozled and Sugar and Spice made some good comments. No one is speaking "ill" of the dead. The facts are simply being stated. As Sugar and Spice stated, if Bamboozled would have made her comments two or three days ago, would there be all this? No one is "dredging up" his wrongs. His "wrongs" were the basis of most of his life and career!

Some have stated that he was a great man that did great things in his career for the country and his state. That is ONLY a matter of opinion. Conversely, it is the opinion of some of us to think that someone who would CONTINOUSLY do any and everything in their power to strike down equal rights in our country is ANYTHING but great. Ok, so he hired a Black person to work for him. AND??? After all that he had done to oppress minorities, that's the VERY LEAST that he could do.

Who's turning anything into a "race issue"? If you would have taken the time to read ANY article in ANY newpaper, book, or magazine on Thurmond, as well as most of the posts in this PRIOR to my post, you would know that Thurmond, in and of himself, is a "race issue". Get real!

a compromise
 

Why don't someone change the title of this thread to read something like this...

"Sen. Strom Thurmond-Pay Your Respects Here"

that way, those of you who want to praise :rolleyes: his works, life, and legacy can do so. And it will let those of us know the true purpose of this thread, since apparently it is not for the purpose of GC'ers to post their feelings :mad: about the passing of ol' Strom.

I was under the impression that people could post their feelings about his passing, but apparently not since post are being deleted.

If this was meant to be a Strom Thurmond sympathy thread then it should have been called that. It wasn't and people are entitled to their opinions right. How is stating an opinion on the man's life and death offensive to anyone? I really don't think its necessary for posts to be deleted on this thread.
And I think not speaking ill of the dead is bull. Should we not speak ill of Hitler for instance? And no, I am NOT comparing Strom to Hitler.

i took the purpose of this thread to just be an announcing of a famous man's passing....like other threads have been.....

to me, it is out of respect for his life and the good things he accomplished rather than focusing on his past wrongs for why ppl shouldn't come on here with all their "good ridance." i know you weren't directly comparing sen thurmond to hitler, but just as a sidenote on that.......thurmond did do some wonderful things for this country.....hitler, kinda, didn't do anything good for his country. yes, thurmond made his mistakes and no one on here is saying he was right in those words/actions.....all some ppl are asking, myself included, is to show a bit of respect for a life that is gone. a life that did do good deeds in this country, a life that changed for the better as far as racism is concerned, and a life that impacted and helped so many others.

i just don't see a thread announcing someone's DEATH as a place to bash and criticize. but that may be just me.....

Yeah these GC people are foolish. Are you a girl (If not, skip the next question)? Do you have controversial (naked) pictures to show us?

-Rudey
--Controversial pictures help people deal with these things better.

It's all about timing. Strom's comments were made when the attitudes about race relations were much different than now. He obviously changed. There's a difference in saying something about someone's actions/comments before that person dies or afterwards, especially with the obvious rancor in tone which totally disregards all the good Mr. Thurmond did.

It's funny to see who is forgiven for attitudes/comments/actions and who is not.

I think that the life of Strom Thurmon parallels the United States. He was a racist (clearly), saw the error of his ways, and tried to make ammends.

I said I wasn't going to comment, but...*sigh*

I think it's appalling that people's posts are being deleted because they are expressing an opinion. Last time I checked we had free speech. Everybody is entitled to it.

This thread exemplifies just how divided we are...most of you are praising Mr. Thurmond on his many good works/deeds/etc. and that is fine. However, in that far away place called the black community :p there's a different view of the same man. As a black person whose parents and grandparents unfortunately felt the brunt of this man's racist views, clearly I have a much different opinion. So when I see comments like RD and Bamboozled's being deleted I'm asking why that is. It's not like they're (or me for that matter) are trying to start a mini-race war. It's how we feel (and I do agree with their comments). And just as the many of you feel that he was a good man and all, we feel differently.

Now if Mr. Thurmond has changed his ways throughout the course of his life then I applaud that--because racists as well as racists attitudes suck :D. But let's not forget the man's past as it's a part of who he is overall.

That's all I had to say.

Okay, I'm really confused by everyone saying that Strom made amends. Amends with whom? Definitely not the very people he oppressed for so long. What did he ever do to help race relations in the country? Because he did "great" things to further his own cause, is of no consequence to me. And you can't really believe that all of this happened so long ago. Want some more Strom facts? Here ya go:

In 1941, Thurmond was a circuit court judge. He presided over the trial of a seventeen year old black farmer, Samuel Osborne, who shot and killed his white employer with a shotgun in self defense when the man attacked Samuel while the young black man was sleeping. He threatened Samuel with a .32-caliber pistol and a club with which he was known to beat his black employees. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court had already ruled that the exclusion of blacks from juries was unconstitutional, Thurmond allowed Osborne to be tried for murder by an all-white jury and later sentenced him to death.

As governor of South Carolina, he opposed the integration of black and white troops in the U.S. army.

When Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948, he ran on the 'Sates Rights' campaign, which was a Cival War era term used as a euphemism of 'White Power.' His campaign slogan was 'Segregation Forever'.

When Harry Truman insisted that the Democratic Party abandon racism in all forms, Thurmond left the party, ran as independent and eventually became a Republican.

In 1957, he filibustered for over 24 hours, one of the longest filibusters in US history, against the passage of the Civil Rights act, which would give equal rights to Americans of all races.

He was an avid supporter of Richard Nixon and used his racist stance to rally support for Nixon in southern states.

Thurmond repeatedly voted against laws that would give rights to blacks, gays, or women.

And I'm supposed to give respect to this person??? WTF ever. He's your hero, not mine.

*Edited to add: The only part of this thread directed at Cream is the first couple of sentences.

Let me ask you this, what do you think of Malcolm X? Would you ever say good/positive things about him even though he's dead? Wait let me answer that for you HELL NO, you wouldn't!!! So why should anyone of the African-American race speak good things about Thurmond? I've never heard Thurmond apologize for his views towards African- Americans. Okay you're entiled to speak on all the good Thurmond did for Whites but as for me all I can speak on is the ILL way he treated my people. Don't get me wrong I feel sorry for his family because losing a family member is a hurtful thing but please don't expect me to mourn his death!