PHILADELPHIA, Mississippi (CNN) -- James Young still remembers the Ku Klux Klan tormenting his neighborhood. He can still see his father holding a gun on the living room couch ready to shoot anyone who threatened his family.



James Young poses with one of his young supporters after winning this week's election.



Nothing about Young's childhood ever made him think he could be the mayor of Philadelphia, Mississippi, the town best known for the killings of three civil rights workers in 1964.



That's the way it was for black kids growing up in this crucible of racial hostility -- big dreams were often squelched. Sitting on a sprawling Southern front porch this week, Young broke down in tears about what it means to be elected the town's first black mayor.



"When you've been treated the way we've been treated," he told CNN, choking up and then pausing to wipe the tears from his face.  Watch tearful Young describe victory »



For a moment, he couldn't speak. He then regrouped, "That's why it's so overwhelming to be a part of this history."



This week, the 53-year-old Young was elected the mayor of Philadelphia, a town of about 8,000 in the east-central part of the state. Despite a 55 percent white majority, Young defeated Rayburn Waddell, a white, three-term incumbent, by the slim margin of 46 votes.  See where the town is located »



Young described the victory as "an atomic bomb of change." Another resident rejoiced, saying Young's win symbolized the scab finally falling off this town's wound.



"I couldn't even have wrote that in a fairy tale," Young said. "Who would have thought a little country boy like me would be mayor of Philadelphia, Mississippi?"



Philadelphia was the site of one of the most notorious killings of the civil rights era. On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers -- James Chaney, a 21-year-old black man from Mississippi; Andrew Goodman, 20, and  Michael Schwerner, 24, both activists from New York -- were shot to death at the edge of town. The killings inspired the 1988 movie "Mississippi Burning."



"Philadelphia will always be connected to what happened here in 1964," said Jim Prince, the publisher of the Neshoba Democrat newspaper.



"But the fact that Philadelphia, Mississippi, with its notorious past, could elect a black man as mayor, it might be time to quit picking on Philadelphia, Mississippi."



Young knows his slim margin of victory means he still has to earn the trust of many more voters here. He knows there are still some in town who won't vote for him because he's black, but he says that number gets smaller and smaller as time passes.



"We have some -- a very small pocket -- that will never change. That's what we've got to deal with," said Young.



The mayor-elect says his election symbolizes a dramatic shift away from his hometown's racist past. And for many black residents, it means they can finally call this place home.



"The places where we were locked out, I'm gonna have the key," he said. "The places we couldn't go, I've got the key. No better way to say it than that."



He takes special pride that his victory comes the same year the nation swore in its first African-American president in Barack Obama. "It inspired people," Young said. "There are times and seasons, I think, for everything. The season arrived and the people let me know it was my time."



The mayor-elect says he won by shaking hands and knocking on doors all over town. But the groundwork for Young's climb to the top of Philadelphia's political world started decades ago.



Young was one of the first black students to integrate Philadelphia's white schools. After graduating from high school, he worked in a motor factory and then as a hospital housekeeper
How many votes did he win by? what is name of mayor? when were workers murdered? How many people live in the town? who were the 3 murdered workers? Who won the election? Where did a black mayor recently get elected for the first time? What is the town known for?
46 James Young 1964. about 8,000 three civil rights James Young Philadelphia, the killings of three civil rights workers in 1964.
question: How many votes did he win by?, answer: 46 | question: what is name of mayor?, answer: James Young | question: when were workers murdered?, answer: 1964. | question: How many people live in the town?, answer: about 8,000 | question: who were the 3 murdered workers?, answer: three civil rights | question: Who won the election?, answer: James Young | question: Where did a black mayor recently get elected for the first time?, answer: Philadelphia, | question: What is the town known for?, answer: the killings of three civil rights workers in 1964.