Griffin Speaks

OBEDIAH SCOTT

In October 1989 I received a visit from Douglas Stevens, a white classmate from Boston University School of Law Tax Program. Doug visited for several days and took the Greg Griffin Tour of the Black Belt. The highlight of his tour was meeting Obediah (Obie) Scott.

Doug was one of the brightest students in the Tax Program at BU. He was witty and very friendly. He was from a wealthy Oklahoma family. Doug’s exposure to black people was scarce. He told me that he was nine before he saw his first black person. He said “Ma! Ma! LOOOK!”

When I arrived at the Montgomery Airport to pick Doug up I realized that I had not seen him in five years. What would we talk about first? As soon as Doug exited his plane and entered the terminal we began to reunite and talked non-stop for hours. The tour was about to begin.

After touring Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma, I took Doug to meet Mr. Scott. I told Doug that I always took my guest to meet Mr. Scott, because he was a real treat to meet. Doug wanted to stop and purchase lots of film to capture the meeting.

We arrived at Scott’s Grocery (Gulf Station) around 10:30 am. in Marion, Alabama. We walked through the door and standing behind the counter was Mr. Scott, a short, stocky man of dark complexion. I loved him because of his warm personality. Mr. Scott had owned a chicken farm and trucking business. He managed to make a decent living in the rural south.

“Hey Greg!” Mr. Scott said. I was flattered that he always remembered my name. He was in his nineties when I first met him. I introduced him to Doug. When I told him that Doug came to visit from New Jersey, his first words to Doug were, “you came all the way from New Jersey to see me?” We smiled and I quickly asked him to tell Doug about when his daughter got married in the front yard next door to his store.

Mr. Scott looked Doug straight in the eye and began to tell him the story. This is what he said: “WHEN CORETTA MARRIED MARTIN IT WAS RIGHT OVER THERE IN THE FRONT YARD. MARTIN WAS JUST LIKE GREG. (HE POINTED HIS FINGER AT ME. HE THEN POPPED HIS FINGERS)… AND JUST LIKE THAT HE WAS FAMOUS!

Mr. Scott told us several other stories about his famous son-in law, Martin Luther King Jr. He invited us inside his house next door to say hello to his daughter Coretta who was visiting. We declined the invitation because I did not want to invade her privacy, although I am sure she would have been thrilled to see me.

We returned to Montgomery and Doug caught his flight back to New Jersey. As he boarded his plane Doug looked at me and said, “You know Greg, most people take their guest to see places, You take your guests to meet people. I had an absolutely wonderful visit.”

Doug and I have stayed in touch through the years. Greg Jr. and I spent the night at his estate a few years ago. The hospitality was great. Doug’s beautiful wife Nancy rolled out the red carpet. Ironically that was the trip I took Greg Jr. on to see the World Trade Center and Empire State Building. Greg Jr. was seven years old at the time.

Mr. Scott has passed on. I still take guest to visit his store. I stand outside and tell them some of the stories that he used to tell me. He was a wonderful man from a little small town who had an impact on the world. The most touching thing he ever said to me was “You know Martin always would tell me that Coretta would say to him “ Martin you remind me of my father.”

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles at www.greggriffin.com