Relatives of Slain Freedom Summer Activists Celebrate Scott Colom's Historic Senate Win in Mississippi

Democrat Scott Colom has defeated incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith to become Mississippi’s first African American senator since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. The electoral breakthrough is particularly meaningful given Mississippi’s history in the civil rights movement. In 1964, three civil rights activists — James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman — were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan after traveling to the state to register Black voters. We speak with two of their relatives about Colom’s stunning upset.

“I believe that people were voting for help. And they evidently saw something in Mr. Colom that made them feel like that they could hope again and that he was the help that was needed,” says Angela Lewis, the daughter of James Chaney.

“The people of Mississippi have spoken,” adds David Goodman, the brother of Andrew Goodman. “And we have to cease and desist this divide-and-conquer business, because it’s not in our collective interest as the United States of America.”