11月11日，斯科特·科隆在密西西比州图加卢的图加卢学院。六位美国人谈他们对科隆的期望。43岁的民主党人斯科特·科隆本月创造了历史，他在击败现任共和党参议员辛迪·海德-史密斯后，成为重建时期以来密西西比州首位黑人参议员。
Scott Colom at Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi, on 11 November. Six Americans on their hopes for Colom, 43, Mississippi’s first Black senator since Reconstruction 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.
这位43岁的获胜者也帮助民主党在参议院获得了至少55个席位的多数优势——这是该党自1986年以来最大的中期选举收获。
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.
全美选民纷纷谈论科隆胜利的意义，许多年长选民表达了希望，认为这可能预示着这个长期饱受种族主义和种族隔离历史困扰的州和地区将迎来新的篇章。其他人则寄希望于科隆和新一代民主党人兑现关键竞选承诺，从应对生活成本、结束美国与伊朗的战争，到解决特朗普政府的强硬移民政策。
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. 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.
家住密西西比州格雷纳达的黑人老年人戴·贝利说：“看到斯科特·科隆赢得参议员席位，我感到无比自豪，因为密西西比州已经阻止黑人为我们的权利投票太长时间了。密西西比州种族主义非常严重，但我为全体密西西比人能够团结成一个民族而感到自豪。”贝利补充说，她希望科隆为所有密西西比人争取医疗保健，“救济贫困者”并保护投票权。
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. Mississippi is so racist, but I’m proud that all [of] Mississippi can [come] together as one people.”Bailey added that she hopes Colom will fight for healthcare for all Mississippians, “feed[ing] the needy” and protect voting rights.
家住芝加哥、现年71岁的退休教授格雷格·P（Greg P）大半个童年和青年时代都在密西西比州度过，他说科隆的胜利给了他希望。
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.
“我父亲是圣公会牧师，我们全家在1960年代和70年代积极参与民权运动。1971年，种族主义者因愤怒于我们的行动主义，在我们牧师住宅的前草坪烧了一个十字架，我在十几岁时曾多次遭到种族主义者袭击，”他说。
“My father was an Episcopal priest, and my family was active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and 70s. 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.
“让我感到欣慰的是，科隆能够与黑人和白人密西西比州选民对话，让黑人选民相信这一次他们真的能赢，并说服了相当一部分白人，一位黑人参议员实际上会比过去多年的白人参议员更好地为他们服务。”
“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.”
他继续说道：“密西西比州的白人常会告诉我，他们相信‘如果黑人掌权’会发生多么可怕的事情，这显示出他们对几十年、几个世纪以来白人在当地对黑人所做之事有着绝对清醒的认识。他们相信报复将是头等大事。现在，似乎相当一部分人已经克服了这种恐惧，这让我非常有希望，相信未来会有更多人走上这条道路。”
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. They believed that revenge would be the first order of 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.”
和格雷格一样，现居特拉华州纽瓦克的64岁医院实验室主任凯瑟琳·帕克也将科隆的胜利视为变革的信号。帕克在20世纪70年代于密西西比州南部长大，那时“三K党在该州是真实存在的势力”。
Like Greg, Catherine Park, a 64-year-old hospital lab director based in Newark, Delaware, sees Colom’s victory as a sign of change. Park grew up in south Mississippi in the 1970s, when the “KKK was a real presence in the state”.
“我为科隆参议员感到无比自豪和激动。我每天都在关注新闻，看着他的领先优势不断扩大。时代在变啊，”帕克说。她补充道，希望他“能在全美最贫穷的州之一带来改变”，并希望“他的榜样能成为一道闪耀的光芒，把密西西比州从19世纪带入21世纪”。
“I am so proud and excited for senator Colom. I have been watching the news daily over his growing lead. The times they are a’ changin’,” Park said. 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”.
对于现居俄勒冈州波特兰的75岁退休教师谢里·瓦卡雷拉来说，她在20世纪50年代和60年代于阿拉巴马州长大，科隆的胜利“是我漫长一生中南方政治最令人振奋的变革”。谢里·瓦卡雷拉。照片：Sherri Vacarella 提供“他在重建时期以来一直试图阻止黑人获得代表权的密西西比州担任代表这一想法，对这位进步派民主党元老来说格外甜美。我为他的成功祈祷，并完全预期他将出色地履行密西西比州参议员的职责，”她说。
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”. Sherri Vacarella. Photograph: Courtesy of Sherri Vacarella“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. I pray for his success and fully expect he’ll do an excellent job as Senator of Mississippi,” she said.
“我对参议员科隆持乐观态度，认为他将专注于可负担性，并提出立法以降低成本、提供更值得信赖的国家政府，终结移民与海关执法局（ICE）的暴行、伊朗战争，以及皮特·海格塞斯。”
“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.”
同样，现居新墨西哥州、自认是英裔尼日利亚裔美国人的57岁作家 JJ Amaworo Wilson 表示：“在一个种族主义根深蒂固的国家里最种族主义的州，这是一个非凡的结果，一次地震般的转变。在现代选举政治领域，这仅可与[巴拉克]奥巴马登上总统宝座相提并论。科隆知晓历史。他知晓自己的成就来自于范妮·卢·哈默、马丁·路德·金、约翰·刘易斯以及许多其他人的民权斗争之后。”
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. In the arena of modern electoral politics, it’s comparable only to [Barack] Obama’s ascension to the presidency. Colom knows his 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.”
威尔逊继续说道：“科隆赢得了他在历史上的地位。现在他必须专注于当下，特别是生活成本和腐败问题。我希望他成功改善密西西比州每一个人的生活，包括那些投他反对票的人，因为那是他的授权，也是他留任的方式。”现居俄勒冈州尤金市、原籍密苏里州圣路易斯的74岁查梅因·雷格表示，科隆的胜利将“意味着密西西比州将获得更多尊重，该州长期因被视为‘落后’和‘红脖子’而遭贬低”。
Wilson continued: “Colom has earned his place in history. Now he must focus on the present, particularly the cost of living and corruption. 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.”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’”.
雷格回忆起她成长时以及随家人去佛罗里达度假途中穿越南方各州所见所闻，说道：“我们看过标着‘白人’和‘有色人种’的分开饮水台。我们看过某一年乘坐的火车上分设的卫生间。在佛罗里达，黑人不得进入公共海滩。所以看到这次胜利我欣喜若狂，尤其是在密西西比州。这符合南方发生的许多其他变化。”展望未来，雷格表示希望科隆推动一系列政策变革，包括建立“更符合欧洲模式的医疗体系”。
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.’ We saw separate bathrooms on a train we took one year. In Florida, Black people weren’t allowed on the public beach. So I’m ecstatic to see this win, especially in Mississippi. This fits in with much other change in the 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”.
她说：“我们拥有一个价格极其高昂且碎片化的体系。此外，住房价格过高，我希望他能解决这个问题。我还希望他解决环境退化问题。他的州位于墨西哥湾沿岸，那里有过海上漏油和污染的历史，特别是来自陆地的化肥径流经由密西西比河流入墨西哥湾，导致藻类大量繁殖形成死区。”
“We have a vastly overpriced and fragmented system. Also, housing is overpriced, which I hope he addresses. And I hope he addresses environmental 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.
雷格补充道：“我还希望他帮助让这个国家停止与伊朗的战争，不支持[本雅明·]内塔尼亚胡，并帮助乌克兰。”
“And I want him to help get this country to stop the war with Iran, to not support [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and to help Ukraine,” Rehg added.