By Gerald V. Paul

What started out in restaurants and homes in Toronto’s Caribbean community on Tuesday evening as a celebration in anticipation of Hilary Clinton’s victory in the US presidential election, soon turned out into a big disappointment  as the results of the polls on television started to show that Donald Trump was “on top.”

Then the celebrants didn’t have to wait long for the “bad news.” There was a lot more Republican red than Democratic blue on the US map on the television screen. Then the party was over: Donald Trump was President-elect.

Earlier in the evening, at the popular Windies Restaurant and Sports Bar in Scarborough, some Caribbean folks were  having chicken  fried-rice and keeping an eye on the elections update on the television.

They were  all excited. They wanted Hillary to win and become the first woman president, the person to move the United States forward and carry on the Obama legacy. But all too soon the up-beat mood turned sombre.

And not just at Windies.

This was the mood in many homes across the GTA..

Chatting about the elections, Kenton Chance, president of the Association of Black Law Enforcers, who hails from Guyana, recalled that during the election campaign Trump had said he can shoot someone and get away with  it.

“Well. Americans are not prepared for a woman as President. But hey, she (Hillary) still won the popular vote,” he added.

Chance, like so  many others, is concerned that Caribbean people may have immigration challenges and other issues under  a Trump administration.

Allyson Alwyn who claims to be ” a Clinton supporter” said  ” Donald Trump’s vision of the USA is not in keeping with those  of the current President and it will not bode well for the minority communities.”

Bridget Daniel,  another Clinton fan  said she believed that “Social Security would have been be saved with a Hilary Clinton administration  just like the policies that are in place with the Obama administration.”

At  his home in Pickering, Shami Maharaj, ” passed on the food ” while watching the election results. He had no appetite.

“I would give Trump the benefit of the doubt and hope and pray he sees the light in the 21^st century,” Maharaj said.

Meanwhile, Tommy Crichlow, a Trump fan, and his wife Christabelle, a Clinton “supporter,” were having hamburgers and fries and keeping their fingers-crossed.

“I am for Trump. Congrats Mr. President-elect. America needs a strong leader who will do the right thing,” Tommy said.

But Christabelle said she would have preferred Hillary to win as”  it would have put America in a favourable light.”

And prominent businessman Jay Brijpaul,   saw a different side of Trump up close and personal and loved what he saw.

Brijpaul, who met Trump at a Real Estate and Wealth Expo, , highlighted the “positive attributes”  of the President-elect.:

“He is focused, determined with a burning desire and passion to succeed,  and he has followed all the ‘Secrets of Success., ”said Brijpaul.