Tchula....... (unemployment, gated, shop)

[ckhthankgod]

my father is originally from this town and he left in 1965 for Syracuse, NY where I'm from. I went to visit in 1992 and was surprised at the way the community looked like and how behind it seemed. I thought I swore I saw people still sharecropping there and considering that Mississippi didn't ratify the 13th amendment until 1995, you could almost say it looked like watered down slavery in my eyes. Anyway, have things changed there in terms of updating the look of the town and in terms of "spirit" of the people in the town?

Also, I'm a black male that is married to a white woman and would lie to go there one day and show my children. Would there be a problem with me coming down with my family, would it depend on who it is or would things be fine?

[cmiss]

depressing area... Take some pictures and call it a day. High unemployment. People walk up and down the streets day in and day out. It's an odd little city. I try to make sure I have gas, just so I don't have to stop in Tchula. I don't believe anyone would hurt your family, but I guarantee you'll feel a bit uncomfortable.

[ckhthankgod]

To be honest, when I went there in 1992 as a 16 year old from a mostly White, middle to upper middle class suburb of Syracuse, NY, I was shocked that there were communities like this in the United States of America. It has to be one of the most impoverished communities in this whole country. What made it worse was that I swore I saw a town pickup driven by an older white male taking Black kids to the fields when I was there. Hardly saw any White people, which isn't too surprising considering the town is about 95% Black, but it was culture shock for sure. It's almost like it was a town that the state forgot about.

My dad would tell me how he would go to the downtown back in the 50's and 60's to shop at stores, one owned by a Jewish family and the other owned by a Chinese family. I'm pretty sure that the families that owned these stores are gone now. Also, is Tchula a segregated town? It seems that way and it is amazing that things haven't changed much even since 1992.

I will say that the people there seemed to be happy to see us visit the town, but even my dad said that the town has changed a lot. I think it would be good my children to see how far people have come to get where they are now though.