The life story of Wayland Whitley

Listen to our latest interview for the Black Oral Histories of Beaufort County project. blackoralhistories.blubrry.com. Born on July 3, 1946, in Pantego, North Carolina, Wayland Whitley has pretty much seen it all in his life. As a child child he helped to work the land on his father’s farm, and he and his siblings helped their mother around the house with chores, as the radio on the back porch played gospel music. He graduated from Pantego Colored School in 1965, which was one of six Rosenwald Schools in Beaufort County, North Carolina. Upon graduation, he went into the army and served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He shares that experience often times in graphic detail, and the racism he experienced there, as well as at home. Whitley continues to reside on the same plot of family land where he grew up. Some of the content is graphic in nature.