On Wednesday the Washington Post ran
stories about the passing of Esie Mae Washington-Williams and Richard Herman,
Americans whose stories are important but whose stories will be little
noticed.
(Lawrence Jackson, file/Associated Press) A 2005 photo of Essie Mae Washington-Williams, daughter of longtime segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond. She has died at the age of 87. |
Ms. Washington
Williams is the better know of the two, her notoriety coming from the fact
that her father was staunch Segregationist and anti Civil Rights politician Strom
Thurmond of South Carolina . Mr. Thurmond’s most notable accomplishment is that he
probably did more to foster racial prejudice, racial division and outright
violence against African Americans than any other major national political
figure. In his later years he tried to
act like he supported equality, but the ugly nasty commentary of his long
political career can never be erased.
There is no question that for decades he simply detested African Americans
and did everything in his political power to thwart their treatment as equal
human beings.
So what else other than that is the news
that makes Ms. Washington-Williams, his acknowledged daughter
newsworthy? It is this. Ms. Washington-Williams is
Thurmond’s oldest child — born when he was a 22-year-old man
and her mother, Carrie Butler, a 16-year-old black maid in his father’s house .
And let this Forum be one of the few, if any to call this
what it was. It was Rape, even if no
physical force was involved. No further
commentary needed.
As for Richard Herman,
he was a multi-millionaire who when he passed away did this.
Mr. Herman - A Very Nice Man |
Family Matters of Greater Washington is set to hold a splashy news
conference Wednesday at the National Press Club to announce that Herman, who
died in November at 100, left the organization 60 percent of his
vast estate — $28 million, which the group says is one of the largest gifts
ever to a local social service organization.
And the Kennedy Center said Tuesday that Herman left $15 million to the
National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington
National Opera — the largest bequest in the institution’s history.
Now we don’t know the
charity Family Matters of Greater Washington, but apparently they do great
work. And yes, the $43 million was about
all of Mr. Herman’s estate. And here’s
what happened when the charity learned of his generosity.
Family
Matters administrators knew they were named as beneficiaries of the estate but
were unaware of the extent of the gift until trust officials contacted them
after Herman’s death.
“I started crying. I dropped the phone, and I fell to my knees on the
ground in my office,” said Tonya Jackson Smallwood, president and chief
executive of the group, which is headquartered downtown. She said she left the
trust officer on the line for a good five minutes as she tried to compose
herself.
Unnamed Conservatives
were expected to be horrified at this news, and be angry and astounded that
Mr. Herman would leave his money to the arts and to an organization that helped
poor children. They will have difficulty coming to grips with the fact that someone that wealthy would not donate all of his money to helping suppress rights
or promote more tax reduction for the wealthy or fight for more pollution or promote an agenda cutting rather than supporting programs that help the needy.
After all, Mr. Herman received much of his wealth from an
inheritance, and shouldn’t that money have gone to protect other wealthy
potential inheritors? Instead Mr. Herman
lived a quiet life, saving most of his capital in order to make a huge
difference in other people’s lives.
Herman
was content to live within his means and let his fortune grow, family members
said.
He
wore the same suits for years, traveled just a few times a year and never
redecorated his apartment, which frayed a bit as the years went by. He had few
indulgences, except for the occasional single daiquiri and a minor flirtation
with a Corvette, which largely stayed in the Watergate’s parking garage.
Conservatives would view him as a traitor to his class, the
rest of us, a personification of the best of America .
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program of cynicism
and anger.
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