SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
We just heard that Scott Colom will be Mississippi's first Black senator since Reconstruction. That era was about 150 years ago, and more than a third of Mississippi's population is Black, making it even more remarkable that it took the state so long to elect a Black person to the U.S. Senate again. Let's talk about all that with Donald Shaffer, director of African American Studies at Mississippi State University. Thanks for coming on the show.
DONALD SHAFFER: Thank you for having me.
PFEIFFER: When you heard that Scott Colom had won, what was your level of surprise or sense of inevitability? How did you feel?
SHAFFER: Well, you know, I think it was a little bit of both. I think surprise in that this is certainly a seismic sea change. The South has been reliably red for several decades, especially Mississippi. Donald Trump won Mississippi, I think, in the last presidential election by double digits. But there has been a growing sentiment that this sort of change has been possible. And I think I've described this as sort of a perfect storm, you know, of a increasingly unpopular president, you know, some desire for change, especially in a place like Mississippi. About, I think, 19% of Mississippians live right at the poverty level or just below, you know. So I think there was a real appetite to see some sort of change happen. And, you know, I think Scott, you know, has been sort of the beneficiary of all of those things.
PFEIFFER: It sounds like what you're also getting at is that since the entire country is so focused on the shocking increase in price of so many things, Mississippi might have felt that particularly acutely, and that may have affected how voters voted.
SHAFFER: Oh, especially. Yeah, I've heard from many of Scott's campaign officials that, you know, they had a goal of trying to capture you know, about a quarter, you know, of white working-class, you know, votes here in Mississippi. They were able to capture roughly half a million votes in total, so I think it's safe to say, given the number. I think you already mentioned African Americans comprise a little over 30% of the population here in Mississippi. You know, it's safe to say that there was a broad coalition of voters, both Black and white Mississippians, that pushed him over the finish line. Even, you know, after winning, you know, he has said repeatedly that he wants to be everyone's senator, including those who did not vote for him. So I think that's sort of been the strategy, a broad-based coalition strategy from the very outset.
PFEIFFER: Go back in history for us a bit, if you would, right after the Civil War, when the country is trying to heal after an extremely difficult time in the United States, make some progress for Black people and then there was intense backlash. Briefly explain the progress and then the white backlash to that.
SHAFFER: With the passage of the Reconstruction-era amendments - the 13th, 14th and 15th - slavery is abolished, African Americans receive citizenship because of the 14th Amendment, and Black men are able to vote because of the 15th Amendment. So African Americans are able to participate fully, you know, in politics. They win elected offices.
PFEIFFER: It's looking like a lot of progress for Black people, and that is not making everyone happy.
SHAFFER: Right. You know, so the end of Reconstruction, you know, when, you know, Southern political autonomy is returned, there is a tremendous backlash. You know, Rayford Logan has described the period after Reconstruction, you know, as the nadir of African American experience. So many of those gains, both politically and economically, are turned back, and we begin to see the rise of Jim Crow segregation.
PFEIFFER: How much do you think that white backlash to Reconstruction was so strong that it contributed to why it took 150 years for Scott Colom to be the one to become a next U.S. senator in Mississippi?
SHAFFER: I mean, the proof is there. It wasn't until, I believe, '86 that Mike Espy is the first Black elected official to U.S. Congress from Mississippi, from the 2nd Congressional District. You know, so it took at least that long, you know, after the end of Reconstruction in late 19th century that you began to even see Black political participation, you know, at that federal level.
PFEIFFER: Senator-Elect Colom has been vocal about what he considers the relative lack of national support for Democratic Party candidates like him in the South. Basically, that the...
SHAFFER: Yes.
PFEIFFER: ...National party assumed he didn't have a chance, so they didn't want to put much money into them. Do you think the National Democratic Party will rethink the way it assesses Southern states and Southern candidates as a result of Colom's win?
SHAFFER: I think they will because a lot of support came late in the campaign. Of course, you know, Kamala Harris - she visited the state fairly recently and campaigned on behalf of Scott. I think the trends that we're beginning to see, you know, in the South, in Georgia, in Mississippi, Texas, especially - you know, Talarico won by double digits, you know, in a state that has been reliably red for a long time. So I think the - that Democrats will begin to sort of look at those trends and see the South, you know, as a place where they can make some inroads, particularly in places like Georgia, even Mississippi and certainly Texas.
PFEIFFER: What do you think this tells Black residents of Mississippi about the power of their vote?
SHAFFER: Well, I think it tells them that their vote matters. One of the constant refrains of this campaign has been Mississippi matters. I think they recognize now, you know, that their voice, you know, can create change and that they can, you know, combine, you know, that voice with the voice of others, many of whom don't look like them, with white Southerners, you know, who share, you know, their interest as well, you know, to make their voice heard and believe that, you know, their voice matters.
PFEIFFER: That is Donald Shaffer of Mississippi State University. Thank you again.
SHAFFER: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUDDY WATERS SONG, "THE SAME THING")
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
And on tomorrow's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, we will visit another historically red part of the country, Southwest Kansas, where three counties known for their meatpacking plants and their majority Hispanic populations broke for Democrats for the first time in decades. Tune in to that story tomorrow. If you aren't by the radio, try asking your smart speaker to play NPR or ask for your station by name.
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