Pam Grier is known for portraying women who don’t flinch in the face of danger.
But during a recent appearance on The View, the legendary actress shared a childhood memory that still brings her to tears—one rooted in the everyday reality of racial terror she witnessed long before fame.
Grier appeared on the daytime talk show during its Martin Luther King Jr. Day broadcast, where she was welcomed with sustained applause from the studio audience.
While the conversation began as a reflection on her trailblazing career in film, it soon shifted toward her upbringing and the environment that shaped her resilience.
Asked by co-host Sunny Hostin how early experiences with racism affected her, Grier spoke about growing up as the child of a military family at a time when segregation dictated nearly every aspect of daily life. Because Black families were not permitted to live on base, her family lived off-site, often without reliable transportation.
“The military wouldn’t allow Black families to live on the base, so you had to live in an apartment,” Grier said. She described her father walking to work and her mother navigating long trips on foot with children in tow. “You couldn’t take a bus, couldn’t afford a car,” she added.
One walk home, she explained, left an imprint that never faded.
“My mom would go, ‘Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look,’ and she’d pull us away,” Grier recalled. “Because there was someone hanging from a tree.”
Grier went on to explain that the site is now part of a public memorial, but the emotional impact remains unresolved. “It triggers me today, to see that a voice can be silenced,” she said.
She also noted that racial violence was not limited to Black victims, explaining that white families who supported Black communities could face similar consequences. “They’re going to get burned down, killed, or lynched as well,” she said.
Despite the gravity of the discussion, the moment was also marked by appreciation for Grier’s lasting influence. Whoopi Goldberg asked whether Grier ever expected her work to resonate so deeply across generations.
Grier, visibly emotional, turned the praise back on Goldberg. “I got a lot of it from you,” she said.
The appearance also highlighted Grier’s current work, including her Soul Flix initiative, which focuses on preserving and promoting Black film and television history.