NATCHEZ — The story of Wharlest Jackson is part of Natchez’s history, its present and its future.

Jackson, a 37-year-old black father of three, accepted a promotion at Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company in 1967.

It was to a job previously reserved for white workers, and Jackson at first hesitated because the word around the plant was that black employees taking “white” jobs would not live to enjoy them.

The threats were not idle. Three weeks into the job, after punching out at 8:01 p.m., a time-delayed bomb under Jackson’s truck went off during his commute home. He died in the explosion.

The murder remains to be solved.

On Saturday, Feb. 27 — 49 years to the day of his death — Jackson was honored at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is where he attended church.

Former Natchez Mayor Phillip West, the speaker for the event, said he could almost understand what the family had gone through. When he was 18, in 1965, West and his father were abducted by the Klu Klux Klan.

They were brought behind a shed somewhere in Adams — or perhaps even Franklin — County. It was so dark West could barely see his hand in front of his face, and there was a man with a shotgun and a flashlight trying to end their lives.

“My prayer was not for God to save Phillip West,” he said. “My prayer was don’t let my father die. He has five more children at the house to raise, and I can’t raise them.

“I’m not here to tell you I understand,” he said to the Jackson family. “I understand a little bit. But I can’t imagine what it would have been like at my house without my father.”

West said men like Jackson, and many others from the Civil Rights era, were martyrs.

“Because of it, things started to happen,” West said. “It’s just sad that we don’t do as well as we can unless someone dies.”

On this occasion, the tricentennial committee, represented by Jennifer Ogden-Combs and Betty Sago, presented the family with a plaque.

“We know now that Wharlest Jackson did not die in vain because of all the good things happening in the community,” Sago said.

Wharlest Jackson Jr. was present, and through him so was his sister Debra Jackson Sylvester, via speakerphone.

She said his death, along with the deaths of others like him, paved the way for some of the freedoms enjoyed today.

“I thank you for remembering daddy and our family,” she said. “Dad stood for freedom.”

Jackson said this event paved the way for West, who became the first black mayor of Natchez and for the black police chief and a black sheriff who lead the city today.

Jackson said he did have a hope that his father’s story could be immortalized in the future.

“I hope Oprah (Winfrey) will come down and do a movie on Wharlest Jackson Sr.,” he said. “All the world would see the shame of our great country, as well as the great changes to come out of his death.”