Black Mississippians celebrate a victory almost no one saw coming

The scene was 145 years in the making.

Dozens of people filled a tiny room inside the historic Masonic Lodge Hall in Jackson, Mississippi, on Wednesday, waiting to hear whether Scott Colom would become the state’s next US Senator.

The 70-year-old building is the permanent residence of the NAACP’s state headquarters, where civil rights leaders, many of them there that night, worked for decades to create this moment.

When a large speaker blared the news of Colom’s win, it ended a long, anxious wait for results that came over a week after election day. The room exploded with emotion.

“Yes sir,” one man yelled, dropping to the ground and moving his arms and legs as if to make a snow angel on the carpet floor.

Colom’s victory is the first win for Democrats in the seat in more than 40 years. And that candidate, who was elected for the final time in 1982, supported segregation.

It is also the first time a black politician has held the seat since 1881. Mississippi’s population is almost 40% black, which is a larger share of the electorate than any other state.

Republicans have, following a ruling by the US Supreme Court overturning parts of the Voting Rights Act, made moves to reduce the number of majority-black districts, which many experts say weakens black voting power. It is partly due to this backdrop that Colom’s victory resonated with many.

“All the stories that my father used to tell me about him growing up here in Jackson, and all the hardships and unjust treatment that he faced. And having experienced some of that myself, it’s hard to put it into words what this moment means for us,” Cedric Haynes said.

“All the stories that my father used to tell me about him growing up here in Jackson, and all the hardships and unjust treatment that he faced. And having experienced some of that myself, it’s hard to put it into words what this moment means for us,” Cedric Haynes said.

“Whoever thought this day would have come.”

People cheered, hugged, kissed and cried, celebrating the achievement.

“I think it is special. It is holy, and it something different,” Charles Taylor, executive director of the NAACP’s Mississippi branch, said.