Ozzie Walls was the only black sheriff in Mississippi. There had been a few others in recent history, but for the moment he was the only one. He took great pride in that fact, since Ford County was seventy-four percent white and the other black sheriffs had been from much blacker counties. Not since Reconstruction had a black sheriff been elected in a white county in Mississippi.
When I began as a lawyer, there was only one black sheriff in north Mississippi, and he was from a black-majority county. I got to know him well and really liked him, then he was murdered on the job. He was my inspiration for Ozzie.
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Emmie
