Son of American slave reflects on father's lessons: "He gave me the signal to be strong and to survive"
CBSN
As America continues to observe Black History Month, it's hard to believe there are still people alive today who had a parent born into slavery. One of the few left is 89-year-old Daniel Smith, whose father was born the property of a White man.
CBS News' chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford spoke with Smith about his incredible story, which reflects the arc of race relations in America — from slavery to civil rights activism, and the fight to end systemic discrimination.
The messages that Smith heard from his father — a freed slave, a survivor, the strongest of the strong — are similar to what many other children of freed slaves heard from their parents.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.