Massey, Orell: Racism in a Rural California Sheriff’s Department Part One
Radio Curious revisits a conversation with Mendocino County Deputy Sheriff Orell Massey who, for the past 20 years has been the only black law enforcement officer in the county’s history. A native of South Carolina, Deputy Massey was a 21 year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps assigned to the Foreign Service Embassy detail before he moved to Mendocino County. When I asked Sheriff Massey to be a guest on this program and share his experience as a black Deputy Sheriff, he asked: “Are the people of Mendocino County ready to hear what I have to say?”
In this program, Part One of our conversation, Deputy Massey describes some people’s reaction to him while he is in on duty.
In Part Two, recorded on February 1, 2015, in the Radio Curious studios, Deputy Massey gives his personal response when asked, “what is it like to be the only black Deputy Sheriff ever in the history of Mendocino County?” Later he shares stories about his off duty life, his goals and aspirations.
The book Deputy Massey recommends is “Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of World War Two,” by Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila.
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