If this was a movie you would need every ounce of your suspension of disbelief for the movie to maintain its integrity. Buried on the last two pages of March’s edition of People’s Magazine is the most incredible story that only occurs in countries where lawlessness runs rampant. Meet the Wall family who claimed they were held in slavery until 1961. Slavery which was abolished in 1865 continued in a tiny rural town in Mississippi. This tiny town in Gillsburg, Mississippi was void of electricity, phone, or radio, and trips into town were forbidden for the Walls. The Wall family had no idea that they were free even though Black families in nearby Liberty, Miss., owned businesses and attended school.
Cain Wall Sr. was born in 1902 into peonage in St. Helena Parish, La. He worked the fields and milked cows for white families while believing he had no rights as a man. Peonage is a system where one is bound to service for payment of a debt. It was an illegal system that flourished in the rural South after slavery was abolished. Mr. Cain was born into this system believing that he was bound to these people that held him and his relatives captive. Being unable to read and write also stifled any opportunity that may have presented itself to the Mr. Cain because he was unable to decipher anything. During World War II, Mr. Cain decided to runaway, but eventually was captured and brought back into slavery.
Story of a Family Enslaved Until 1961
Nov 5, ’07
3:15 PM
Comments
7 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.Wow. I can’t believe this hasn’t made headlines.
The writing is very poor. Is there another source? I don’t seem to have the “March edition of People’s Magazine” handy.
Someone in the comments at the site looked up the census information for the years covered in the story. The area really was that isolated, and the Wall family was surrounded by the same few white families for the duration.
As much as we think we are under the eye of Big Brother, I can imagine that this same type of exploitation still goes on in parts of the world.
I wonder if this was the inspiration for Manderlay?
Did this man not speak to anyone else in the world? He must have noticed other people having lives.
Ok, try these websites, they give much more information.
http://nubianwaves.com/slavery-continued-until-1961-for-wall-family/
http://northstarview.blogspot.com/2007/03/they-didnt-get-memo-that-slavery-was.html
I don’t believe slavery was actually abolished in Mississippi until just recently.
I remember on the old Michael Moore show that Chris Rock got some white guys to be his slaves and it was legal. It was hilarious.