Dana Yates/Daily Journal Former San Mateo mayor Claire Mack, right, and husband, Eddie Mack, watch Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on the television at B Street Billiards in San Mateo.

It was a moment many of the 150 people gathered in a downtown San Mateo bar never thought they would see.

There was a time when black San Mateo residents were denied home loans in the 1950s or were dissuaded from buying in certain neighborhoods in the 1980s. For them, Barack Obama’s presidential victory is the latest chapter in an ongoing struggle for equality in the nation.

“So many times we work hard, get a victory and then stop. This is a celebration but tomorrow our work starts. Ask what can I do and what can we do together,” the Rev. Larry Ellis told the crowd gathered at B St. Billiards.

The San Mateo Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosted last night’s party. Many at last night’s party were not confident until recently — some as late as last night — that Obama could win this election.

“I’m ecstatic. It’s something I didn’t think was going to happen, but this country that I was born and raised in rose to the occasion,” said former San Mateo mayor Claire Mack.

Mack and her husband Eddie married when she was 16. The couple was denied a home loan a year later in 1955. Mack went on to serve her city as the first black mayor. She served on the council with Jerry Hill, who was elected last night to the state Assembly.

Claire said she cannot overcome the “irony” of electing to the nation’s highest office a man born to an African father and a white mother when it is the history between those two races that caused such strife in this country.

“This is what I want America to be. His presence in the White House will change the world,” Mack said.

However, Mack did not always support Obama. Like others, Mack originally supported Hillary Clinton — until listening to Obama speak.

Joyce Ferguson, of San Mateo, and her sister, Mary White, both supported Clinton but connected more with Obama’s speeches, they said.

“I liked him from the time he spoke. It was from the heart and I felt he was like us — just plain family folk trying to make it,” Ferguson said. “We didn’t think it was going to happen this generation. Maybe in my daughter’s or my granddaughter’s generation, not mine,” Ferguson said.

For the first time in history a young generation of blacks will not only be told they can ascend to the highest position in the nation but they will see it happen, White said.

Last night’s crowd represented more than San Mateo’s small black population. It was a mix that crossed all races and cultures.

“What happened tonight is we had all of San Mateo come out. This is the face of San Mateo we don’t always see,” said San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer, the first woman in the city’s history to hold the position.

Many at last night’s gathering said they hoped the energy here combined with the energy across the nation could create a great platform for future advancement of minorities.

“This is an exciting time to be alive. Tonight was a demonstration of what can happen when we come together for the common good,” the Rev. Ellis said, adding it was time to harness the energy, “and make good things happen.”

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.