Black, Hispanic reaction to Trump win mixed

Despite former President Donald Trump capturing nearly 20% of the Black vote and 42% of Hispanics nationally, local Black and Hispanic reaction to his victory was strong and mixed.

Carlotta Paige of Latrobe, chief operating officer of the Westmoreland Diversity Coalition in Greensburg, is not surprised how Westmoreland County or Pennsylvania residents voted.

“I am saddened by the results, primarily because I don’t understand people’s appeal for Trump,” she said. “I was optimistic about Kamala Harris’ chances. I think that it will be difficult for organizations like mine to survive. I don’t think we will get much support, and it is certainly going to be difficult, in my view, to raise money.”

Paige said that people should stay encouraged in the midst of what is to come by “loving thy neighbor and by making our differences our strengths, and that is more important now than ever,” she said.

“Trump is the president that America deserves,” said Jasiri X, activist and co-founder of 1Hood Media. “What’s fascinating to me about this moment is that in 2016, Trump got 34 felonies because he paid off a porn star so we wouldn’t know. In 2024, we know all about him, his crimes are laid out in vivid detail.”

People still chose to re-elect him.

Hispanic voters turned out in large numbers in support of Trump. According to a Washington Post exit poll, 91% of Black women and 77% of Black men voted for Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, 55% of Hispanic men voted for Trump, along with 38% of Hispanic women.

At 1Hood Media, the priority has been building electoral power locally, and Jasiri X said that’s the path forward. There are still victories to celebrate, like the reelection of Democratic U.S. Reps. Summer Lee of Swissvale and Chris Deluzio of Fox Chapel.

“If you’re thinking about national and federal elections, it will be difficult, but it’s important to build power locally, where we can effect change,” Jasiri X said.

Chardae Jones, an author, activist and former mayor of Braddock, shared similar sentiments.

“It wasn’t shocking or surprising, because we’ve been here before, we’ve done this before, and it feels like Groundhog Day,” Jones said.

Jones emphasized that disappointment shouldn’t stop the work. In Braddock, there was an overwhelming turnout.

“That was a nice feeling to have, and I just don’t want them to feel discouraged,” she said.

Jones urged people to stay involved despite the loss. According to the Allegheny County Office of Elections, about 1,300 people voted across Braddock’s three wards, and in overwhelming support of Harris.

“You don’t win every time, unfortunately, but there’s still work to be done, and we can still keep fighting,” she said. “When we stop fighting, we automatically lose.”

Louis Berry, 65, of Rankin, was previously outspoken about his decision to not vote in this election. He did not change his mind. “I really don’t have no certain feeling about how it turned out. It turned out how it turned out,” he said.

Berry was not surprised by the results — he expected them.

“I don’t think she was a strong candidate. She really didn’t have no policies that grabbed you and pulled you in, and he’s been building a base for eight years,” Berry said.

However, some Black voters locally are happy about the results of the election.

Cinnamon Turner, 56, of Avalon, a devout Christian, said she feels Trump will do great things. She believes he did a lot in his first term.

“He did the stuff for the Black colleges, gave them more money,” Turner said.

Turner believes that during Trump’s term, jobs were up for people of color. While wages did increase for Black people under Trump, they increased three times more during President Joe Biden’s term, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

Her vote for Trump stemmed from feelings that the U.S. has issues such as homelessness and mistreatment of veterans that must be addressed before the care of immigrants, Turner said.

“I believe in closing the border,” Turner said.

Turner said she felt Harris didn’t step into her role as vice president.

“When Biden was having issues and could no longer do his job effectively, she did not step in,” Turner said. “I’m just looking forward to the great things that we, as a people, can do coming together, and if it takes a man that is out of the box to help us do that, I think Trump is gonna do it.”

Manuel Roman, a resident of East Pittsburgh, wasn’t surprised by the number of Latino men supporting Trump.

“Just because people are discriminated against doesn’t mean they don’t discriminate themselves,” he said. “I have family, cousins and people who came to this country under duress, became refugees and benefited from what would now be considered illegal and undocumented entry. Decades later, they’re among Trump’s staunchest supporters, especially on immigration policy.”

Patricia Documét, 65, of Churchill, serves as the public health advisor at Casa San Jose.

“I voted for Harris, but there have been several things that probably annoyed Latinos,” she said. One of them, Documét said, is that they are an afterthought in the election, only considered later when people realize there are a lot of Latinos.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 63.3 million Hispanics/Latinos lived in the United States as of 2022. The Latino population in Pittsburgh rose by 80% from 2010 to 2020, according to the 2022 Allegheny County Latinx Needs Assessment Report.

“In the beginning, it seems that people are not interested or listening,” Documét said.

Documét also said that Trump spoke to the Latino community earlier and faster.

“I was very disappointed,” Rev. Debrah L. Mason, Senior Pastor at Otterbein United Methodist Church in Greensburg, said. “We have a woman who was so intelligent, sophisticated and well-educated, has an exemplary background in government, and can certainly do an outstanding job for the country … and people voted for someone who has abused the system.”

Mason considered how many Trump supporters tout Christianity — according to AP VoteCast, 8 out of 10 white evangelical Christian voters cast their ballot for him — despite many of his actions and views not aligning with any of the tenets of being a Christian. Mason doesn’t have a problem with people having different viewpoints but has a problem with the hate.

Trump secured a large portion of the evangelical vote.

“It is scary, and I consider it spiritual wickedness because it doesn’t make any logical sense. When you look at Trump’s record and what he says, he pronounces bigotry, he is a sexual abuser — all the things that a Christian should not want to attach themselves with,” Mason said. “I was really befuddled. I just don’t understand how this has happened.”