# The slave owning family - next door? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 21, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117 "2017-05-21T02:17:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/1 "2017-05-21T02:17:05Z")
Question: What would you do if the family living next door to you, owned a slave? I bring this up because of [this article](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/) I just read about a family from the Phillipines who owned a slave. The jist of the story is back in 1943 a woman from a poor village they later called “Lola” was sold by her family to a wealthy family. Later she was “given” by the owner to his daughter and her new American soldier husband who later moved to the United States. “Lola” was mistreated all her life. The kids (all 5) later figured out what was going on and grew resentful of what their parents were doing but felt powerless to do anything about it. When the parents died Lola eventually went to live with the son who tried to treat her as a regular person and give her some comfort in her final years. Now I bring this up because I have heard about other immigrant families who have someone living with them, whom they often refer to as maybe an aunt or cousin or whatever but who probably is in reality, a slave. Many of these are top, respectful families, many of whom are doctors or other persons top in their fields. So, I’d like to ask; 1. Have you seen such situations? 2. What would or what could you do in such a situation? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/2 "2017-05-21T02:31:37Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > 1. Have you seen such situations? Heard about it [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=826327) > [@](#): > > 1. What would or what could you do in such a situation? Why wouldn’t you call the cops? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/3 "2017-05-21T03:00:11Z")
I would call the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/4 "2017-05-21T03:26:12Z")
1. Never seen it. 2. Call the cops or a human-trafficking/forced-labor hotline. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/5 "2017-05-21T04:14:11Z")
I’ve never seen or been suspicious of anything like that. If I had any evidence at all I would certainly call the authorities. I can’t imagine a case where I would not want to free the enslaved person as soon as possible. But in reality it could certainly be very difficult to know that from outside the family, unless the enslaved person made some communication to that effect. How would I as an outsider know whether this person was being paid or not, or was being held against their will? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/6 "2017-05-21T04:34:13Z")
Ask if I could borrow it? 😃 Seriously tho, I can’t imagine there will be too much diversity in the responses here. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/7 "2017-05-21T04:54:06Z")
Here’s an article about similar scenarios. > **[The US-India row isn’t really over diplomatic immunity—it’s about human...](https://qz.com/160242/the-us-india-row-isnt-really-over-diplomatic-immunity-its-about-human-trafficking)** > > The US-India diplomatic fracas over deputy counsel general Devyani Khobragade’s arrest in New York has focused on whether US law enforcement was too heavy-handed, and sparked angry protests in India and top-level international detente. But the... > [@](#): > > Khobragade isn’t the first diplomat to have come under fire in the US for mistreating household help. In many cases the diplomat or the government they were working for paid a high price: > > In 2012, a press officer for the Indian government working in New York, was fined $1.5 million for her “barbaric” treatment of a 22-year-old Indian maid, who worked 16 hours a day and lost almost half her body weight over the course of the job. > > A Taiwanese diplomat was deported from the US in 2011 for underpaying and overworking two Filipina women in a case prosecutors called a form of human trafficking, after reaching a plea deal that allowed her to avoid five years in prison. > > The Kuwaiti government paid an undisclosed amount to three domestic workers who the American Civil Liberties Union said were held in “slavery-like” conditions by a Kuwaiti diplomat in the US. > > Earlier this year, two other Filipina women working as domestic helpers escaped from a Saudi diplomatic compound in Virgina, and US officials are again investigating “human trafficking” allegations. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/8 "2017-05-21T05:11:00Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Here’s an article about similar scenarios. After spending 8 years in prison in an unusually lenient plea deal, [Lakireddy Bali Reddy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakireddy_Bali_Reddy) is still wallowing in his mansion with a grand fortune. It’s a sad, sad world we live in. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/9 "2017-05-21T19:00:43Z")
I would contact a anti-human-trafficking organization first because they would understand the legal situation better than me or the many local police. I wouldn’t want to put a traffic person in a situation where they would just be deported back to their home country and resold. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/10 "2017-05-22T00:53:41Z")
I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this. Not even rumors. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/11 "2017-05-22T13:58:00Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Now I bring this up because I have heard about other immigrant families who have someone living with them, whom they often refer to as maybe an aunt or cousin or whatever but who probably is in reality, a slave. Many of these are top, respectful families, many of whom are doctors or other persons top in their fields. How would you know that’s not their aunt or their cousin? Obviously, most Americans would report it if they knew someone was being held as a slave but as in the case of the Filipino woman, the family was careful enough to disguise what was really going on. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/12 "2017-05-22T14:15:08Z")
The closest I saw to this was as a child. I had friend in school from India and his family had a servant I believe they called a Pune. She was an older woman, her quarters were in the basement of their house in a little corner behind a screen. She cooked and cleaned for them and she seemed to adore my friend. I can’t say if she was paid, She was well treated from what I could see. I have heard stories about ill treatment of servants like this, working for subsistence only, but I don’t know much else about the subject or this particular case. I imagine at the time (1960s) her life was as good here as it would have been back in India where they returned around 1970. So what would I do now if I encountered the same circumstance? Well I’d certainly be curious. If it sounded like indentured servitude or slavery of some sort I’d ask a lot of questions, have concerns, and talk to other Indians I know to try to scope out the situation, and if there were real reason to be concerned contact someone, though I’m not sure who. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/13 "2017-05-22T15:33:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How would you know that’s not their aunt or their cousin? Obviously, most Americans would report it if they knew someone was being held as a slave but as in the case of the Filipino woman, the family was careful enough to disguise what was really going on. In my case, my grandmother was practically my full-time caretaker when I was growing up. Should neighbors have been suspicious that she was our slave? I know many Mexican families in which Abuelita acts as a near full-time nanny and maid. Should I be leery? Should I be reporting them? Personally, I’d need some overwhelming evidence before I called the authorities on my neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slave-owning-family-next-door/787117/14 "2017-05-22T20:08:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Heard about it [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=826327) Wops, always frustrating when one has an idea for a new subject, to later find out someone else already has one.