PENNSYLVANIA, USA – Roy Lindo says that when he arrived in this city from Jamaica in 1968 he encountered a fair share of racial discrimination.

Lindo, a tailor, says he made the trek here in response to an appeal for skilled labourers.

He remembers a particular instance when, after being trained specifically to fill a post in the clothing store where he worked, the job was given to an Italian from New York.

“I was so angry,” he told the Observer Sunday night, “I went to the union and reported my supervisor.”

The union, he said, intervened and he was appointed to the position.

“It’s come a long way since then,” he said. “That’s why we’re so elated about Obama.”

Like many immigrants in this city, Lindo is impressed with Barack Obama, the first African-American to win his party’s nomination for the United States presidency.

And most naturally, like many immigrants in America, Lindo will today vote for Obama, the Democratic Party senator from Illinois, in probably the US’ most watched election in at least half-a-century.

A win for Obama, who up to yesterday held what a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll described as a “solid, though narrowing lead” of eight percentage points over his Republican rival, Senator John McCain, would make Lindo, his wife Celeste and their Jamaican friends happy. However, they have high expectations of him.

“I expect him to pick his Cabinet members carefully and get this country moving again,” said Celeste.

“I expect Obama to implement measures that will help us so that our wages can cover our bills,” said Debbie Ottey, in whose mom’s house in the east end of the city the group met.

Ottey said her support for Obama is rooted in her belief that he has a genuine interest in making people better off. “He knows what it is to be black and poor,” she said.

“He’s an example to the young generation,” added Ottey’s sister, Lavern, one of Pennsylvania’s approximately 50,000 poll workers.

Lindo shared that view but expressed a note of concern. “I hope this generation of blacks don’t let him down,” he told the Observer, echoing an increasingly common aspiration among African Americans for Obama’s political achievements to inspire black men in particular.

“Blacks need to be more accountable for their children,” said Celeste, adding that she supported Obama’s position that parents must know when to turn off television sets in order for their children to focus on their education.

Beryl Bailey, a Montegonian who works with Central Properties here agreed, and nodded in approval of Ottey’s description of Obama as “a very well-educated and intelligent man”.

“I know Martin Luther King Jr is smiling,” said Bailey.