“Growing Up Black in the South”: Samuel L. Jackson Shares His Riveting Childhood in Segregated Chattanooga

HOLLYWOOD — Legendary actor Samuel L. Jackson may be known as a quintessential New Yorker, but his roots trace back to the segregated streets of Chattanooga, Tennessee—a place that shaped his resilience, intellect, and fighting spirit.

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In a rare and intimate interview, Jackson opened up about the struggles and surprising joys of his childhood as an only child raised by his grandparents and his aunt Edna, a schoolteacher who would become one of his greatest influences. “My mom was actually in D.C. working, so I was with my grandmother, my grandfather, and my aunt Edna,” Jackson recalled. “She forced me to do a lot of things I didn’t want to do as a kid, but one of the things she made me do was read. I was reading by the time I was two.”

His aunt’s insistence on education meant young Sam sat in the back of her fourth-grade classroom at just two years old, answering questions and outshining the older kids. “When a kid couldn’t answer a question, she’d go, ‘Sam?’ and I would answer. Then I’d have to fight all lunchtime because the fourth graders would be like, ‘Oh, you think you’re smart!’ I knew I was smart, but I had to be a good fighter too.”

But Jackson’s childhood was shadowed by the harsh realities of segregation. “I learned lessons most people don’t have to learn today, or shouldn’t have to learn,” he said quietly. “I learned how to conduct myself around the ‘superior race’ in an interesting sort of way. You don’t look people in the eye—but I did, because I didn’t know any better.”

He recounted working with his grandfather, who cleaned offices after hours. “I’d empty the trash cans and look at what people were doing on their desks. Sometimes there’d be a guy there and I’d look him in the eye and talk. My grandfather would just be shaking, because I’d ask questions and they’d say, ‘This boy’s smart, Ed.’ But my grandfather, almost 70, would be called ‘boy’ by a 20-year-old white kid. I noticed something was wrong with that dynamic.”

Despite the daily indignities, Jackson found love and support in his community. “I was in a very loving environment with all the people in my neighborhood. All the teachers had taught my mom, her brothers, and sisters. I never went to school with a white kid or had a white teacher until college. My whole existence was in this black cocoon that taught me how to live in a world outside of my own environment.”

Jackson described the unique, progressive education he received. “Teachers knew every kid’s house, how everybody lived. They tailored their teaching—some kids learned to diagram sentences because they were going to work or join the army, while I’d be reading Shakespeare in the corner because I was going to college. It was the earliest progressive education there was.”

Samuel L. Jackson’s story is a powerful reminder of the resilience required to survive—and thrive—against the odds. From the segregated South to Hollywood stardom, his journey is a testament to the power of family, community, and the unbreakable spirit of a boy who refused to be anything less than himself.