The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same

There is saying that “history repeats itself”. My story started 85 years ago and it still haunts David Madlock’s son today.  Unfortunately, it is a too familiar story in the African-American Family.

I have been researching the real maiden name of my great great grandmother, Lula.

In the 1880 Census, Lula is listed as the step-daughter to the head of the household, David Clark. 

Lula married Louis Madlock on December 17, 1889. Her maiden name was listed as Clark on her marriage record. So, it was evident that she took her step-father’s last name.

So, in my quest to find out her “real” maiden name, I started looking at death certificates of her children. Her oldest son was David Madlock. (Ironically, my grandfather was named after him.)

While examining David’s death certificate, I noticed that he was a farmer. His wife was Lillian. His father was Louis Madlock and his mother was Lula Clark. My great grandmother, Addie Campbell, was the informant on his death certificate.

Cause of death was a gun shot wound. But it was a gun shot wound from an officer. Officer? Gun shot wound? What was this about?

Excerpt from the Southern Reporter Newspaper.

A search of his pockets did not reveal a pistol, but a bottle of whiskey was found therein. (that seems to be a familiar statement)

Until the 1940s, not a single black police officer worked in the Deep South – including South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama – yet in the 1930s and 1940s, these states had most of the black population in the United States. Most blacks were eliminated from the hiring process because they posed a threat to white supremacy.

At the time of David’s death, he had 3 sons. His youngest son is still living today. He is 96 years old. His mind is still fairly sharp. Each time that I talk to him, he repeats the story of when the sheriff killed his daddy. He states there were other reasons on why the sheriff killed his father. His father’s killing, scared a lot of blacks in that area. David’s family eventually moved North with the exception of his youngest son. His youngest son was raised by his grandmother. He stated that the family never talked about the day that his father died. His grandmother never allowed him to speak bad about police officers either.

Here it is 2016 and the narrative still hasn’t changed.