Democrat Scott Colom made history this month, becoming Mississippi’s first Black senator since the Reconstruction era after defeating incumbent Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
asserted
Colom → make → Smith
The 43-year-old’s win also contributed to a Democratic majority of at least 55 seats in the Senate – the party’s largest midterm gains since 1986.
asserted
win → contribute → 1986
Voters across the US reflected on the significance of Colom’s victory, with many older voters expressing hope that it could signal a new chapter for a state and region marked by a long history of racism and segregation.
uncertain
it → reflect → racism
Others looked to Colom and a new generation of Democrats to deliver on key campaign promises, from tackling the cost of living and ending the US war with Iran to addressing the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies.
asserted
Others → look → policies
Dye Bailey, a Black older adult in Grenada, Mississippi, said: “It makes me so proud to see Scott Colom win the Senate because Mississippi has been trying to [prevent] Black people from voting for our rights for so long.
asserted
Mississippi → say → long
Mississippi is so racist, but I’m proud that all [of] Mississippi can [come] together as one people.”
asserted
all → ’m → people
Bailey added that she hopes Colom will fight for healthcare for all Mississippians, “feed[ing] the needy” and protect voting rights.
asserted
Colom → add → rights
For Greg P, a 71-year old retired professor based in Chicago who spent most of his childhood and young adulthood in Mississippi, Colom’s victory offers hope.
asserted
victory → base → hope
Our family had a cross burned into our rectory’s front lawn in 1971, and I was assaulted several times in my mid-teens by racists incensed by our activism,” he said.
asserted
he → have → activism
“What gives me hope is that Colom was able to speak to Black and white Mississippians, convincing Black voters that this time they could actually win, and persuading a significant percentage of whites that a Black senator would actually do better by them than a white one had for years.”
uncertain
one → give → years
He continued: “Whites in Mississippi would often tell me of the awful things they believed would happen to them ‘if the Blacks ever take over’, showing an absolute clarity about what whites had done to Black people there over the decades and centuries.
asserted
whites → continue → decades
They believed that revenge would be the first order of business.
asserted
revenge → believe → business
Now, it appears that a significant number of them have overcome that fear, which gives me great hope that others will come along that way in the future.”
asserted
others → appear → future
Like Greg, Catherine Park, a 64-year-old hospital lab director based in Newark, Delaware, sees Colom’s victory as a sign of change.
asserted
Park → base → change
Park grew up in south Mississippi in the 1970s, when the “KKK was a real presence in the state”.
asserted
KKK → grow → state
I have been watching the news daily over his growing lead.
asserted
I → watch → lead
The times they are a’ changin’,” Park said.
asserted
Park → changin → ?
She added that she hoped he “makes a difference in one of the nation’s poorest states” and that “his example becomes a shining light to bring Mississippi out of the 19th century and into the 21st”.
asserted
example → add → 21st
For Sherri Vacarella, a 75-year-old retired teacher based in Portland, Oregon, who grew up in Alabama during the 1950s and 1960s, Colom’s victory “is the most exciting change in southern politics in my long lifetime”.
asserted
victory → base → lifetime
“The idea that he will represent Mississippi, a state that has tried to prevent Black representation since Reconstruction, is particularly sweet to this progressive Democrat elder.
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that → represent → elder
I pray for his success and fully expect he’ll do an excellent job as Senator of Mississippi,” she said.
asserted
she → pray → Mississippi
“I’m optimistic that senator Colom will focus on affordability and offer legislation that will reduce costs and provide a more trustworthy national government, putting an end to ICE horrors, the Iran war, and Pete Hegseth.
asserted
that → ’m → horrors
Similarly, JJ Amaworo Wilson, a 57-year-old writer based in New Mexico who identifies as Anglo-Nigerian-American, said: “In the most racist state in a deeply racist country, this is an extraordinary result, a seismic shift.
asserted
this → base → country
In the arena of modern electoral politics, it’s comparable only to [Barack] Obama’s ascension to the presidency.
asserted
it → ’ → presidency
Colom knows his history.
asserted
Colom → know → history
He knows his achievement comes in the aftermath of the civil rights struggle of Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King, John Lewis, and many others.”
asserted
achievement → know → Hamer
Wilson continued: “Colom has earned his place in history.
asserted
Colom → continue → history
Now he must focus on the present, particularly the cost of living and corruption.
asserted
he → focus → living
I hope he succeeds in improving the lives of everyone in Mississippi, including those who voted against him, because that’s his mandate and that’s how he’ll stay in office.”
asserted
he → hope → office
Charmaine Rehg, 74, who lives in Eugene, Oregon, and is originally from St Louis, Missouri, said Colom’s victory will “mean much more respect for Mississippi, which has been belittled for being ‘backwards’ and ‘redneck’”.
asserted
which → live → Mississippi
Rehg recalled what she witnessed growing up and traveling through the south on family vacations to Florida, saying: “We saw separate drinking fountains for ‘white’ and ‘colored.’
asserted
We → recall → fountains
We saw separate bathrooms on a train we took one year.
asserted
we → see → train
In Florida, Black people weren’t allowed on the public beach.
asserted
people → allow → beach
So I’m ecstatic to see this win, especially in Mississippi.
asserted
I → ’m → Mississippi
This fits in with much other change in the south.”
asserted
This → fit → south
Looking ahead, Rehg said she hopes Colom will pursue a range of policy changes, including a “healthcare system more in line with those in Europe”.
asserted
Colom → look → Europe
“We have a vastly overpriced and fragmented system.
asserted
We → have → system
Also, housing is overpriced, which I hope he addresses.
asserted
he → overprice → which
And I hope he addresses environmental degradation.
asserted
he → hope → degradation
His state is on the Gulf coast, where there is a history of offshore oil spills and pollution, in particular fertilizer runoff from the land carried by the Mississippi River to the Gulf, causing dead zones due to algae blooms,” she said.
asserted
she → be → blooms
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
