News of president Donald Trump’s defeat at the hands of democratic candidate Joe Biden has been met with jubilation by Black communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Biden’s victory came after more than three days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of postal votes that delayed the processing of some ballots.
He crossed 270 electoral college votes with a win in Pennsylvania and will become the nation’s 46th president.
Many people, including CNN host Van Jones, are hailing Trump’s loss as a step forward in the movement towards anti-racism in light of his white supremacy.
Trump’s history of racism is well documented. During his campaign to become president in 2016, he repeatedly made racist and bigoted statements that included referring to Mexican immigrants as criminals to proposing a ban on Muslims entering the country.
During a debate with Biden last month, Trump refused to condemn white supremacy and told an extremist group – the Proud Boys – to “stand down and stand by”.
He has repeatedly referred to Covid-19 as “the Chinese virus”, stoking up racial division which saw hate crimes against east Asian people soar during this pandemic, and pandered to white supremacists after they held a violent demonstration in Charlottesville.
The businessman’s anti-Black racism precedes his time in office spanning back to the 1970s when he would allegedly not rent apartments in one of his New York housing developments to Black people.
Black Lives Matter tweeted: “We congratulate Joe Biden on becoming President, and particularly Kamala Harris, on becoming the country’s first woman – a Black woman – to serve as Vice President. President Trump must concede. And that means dropping his bogus lawsuits to challenge the results.”
Rev Al Sharpton told US channel MSNBC: “I feel vindicated because Joe Biden really connected with people. [...] You have the poetry of: here was a man who was the vice-president to the first Black man that was president, that is now bringing in the first Black woman to be vice-president.
“He is the bridge to bring this country together because he has served the Black [people] and now has a Black woman that will serve with him – and this is the kind of healing we want.”
One Black woman who lives in New York told HuffPost UK: “It’s a beautiful day, let me tell you. The sun is shining and people are just on a high. It’s crazy. Cars in my neighbourhood have been tooting their horns as they drive past; I heard that in nearby areas people have been banging on pots and pans and playing the song ‘Celebration’. This is incredible. People are going to be talking about this for a long, long time.”
CNN anchors showed footage of Black people doing the Electric Slide dance routine – which is typically performed at celebratory events such as weddings and family reunions – in response to Biden’s victory.
Peter Herbert, the chair of the Society of Black Lawyers in the UK, tweeted: “What goes around comes around. The First Women Vice President of the USA is a black woman. Congratulations BLM. Jamaica & India in the White House.”
UK journalist and author Afua Hirsch wrote: “The British government is scrambling to appear less racist because suddenly that’s not such a good look any more. I see you #ByeByeTrump.”
Lord Simon Woolley, founder of Operation Black Vote, told HuffPost UK that “Black people around the world will sleep easier tonight.”
“I’ve never known an election that has been so important for the well being of global decency. If Trump would have won, the play book for political and indeed business success would be: ‘cheat, lie, sow hatred, particularly racial hatred. Do whatever you need to do to win’,” he said.
“Biden’s win will help us redraw the guidelines for respect and decency.”