Mississippi Ancestry

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"My slave ancestors, despite the horrors they were subjected to, had value and were listed among the assets of a slaveholder. Had the Nazi position prevailed in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War (my slave great-grandfather and namesake, William Alexander Scott, fought with the Union Army in Mississippi), I, or others in similar situations, would not exist in the world today.

My life, as I have contemplated the impact of past events on it, has evolved into a character that exhibits an attitude to fellow humans that they have nothing to fear from me or my family. I am only one. But my wife, our children (a son and a daughter, their children, 2 boys and a girl, and 2 boys, respectively) have the character and function that no one should fear them. They have no designs on others or their families."

Editor's Note:

W.A. Scott was only two generations removed from slavery. His grandfather, William Alexander Scott, was born a slave and fought in the Union Army, following the Emancipation Proclamation, in Mississippi. His father, William Alexander Scott II, was born in Edwards, Mississippi, in 1902. He was educated at Morehouse College in Atlanta during World War I where he was inspired by Atlanta's vibrant black community to establish the Atlanta Daily World newspaper. The paper published news, business advertisements, and social stories relevant to African American citizens of the Southeast and beyond.