ATLANTA — Donald Trump's US presidential election victory has sent shockwaves through Black American communities, which voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris despite a campaign by her Republican rival to court Black men.

While Trump made gains among Black Americans in North Carolina and some in the community celebrated his win, nationally his vote share among Black voters was unchanged in the Tuesday vote from 2020, according to an exit poll conducted by Edison Research, which showed a much larger swing towards Trump among Hispanic voters.

Black voters were important to President Joe Biden's victory over Trump in 2020, when Harris was also elected as the first Black and first Asian-American US vice president. Had she won on Tuesday, Harris would have become the United States' first woman president.

A majority of the two dozen Black Americans who spoke to Reuters for this story said they feared a second Trump term, including a rollback of civil rights after his pledge to end federal diversity and inclusion programs.

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