In several polls, Trump has received zero or 1 percent of the black vote; in a poll taken last month, 83 percent of blacks said they believed Trump is a racist. As a result, while Trump wins white voters in most polls, he performs dismally with nonwhites, whose share of the electorate increases every four years. In a Washington Post poll published on Sunday, for example, Trump drew 52 percent of white voters but just 17 percent of nonwhites.

The people who felt scapegoated by Trump's racially charged campaign turned their backs on him early and never looked back. That simple fact is likely to seal his electoral fate.

With Barack Obama no longer on the ballot, a different Republican campaign might have had an opportunity to make inroads with minority voters. In communities like Ferguson, there is little sign of the excitement Obama inspired. In dozens of interviews here—at the barbershop, at grocery stores, at sports fields, on the street—most people told me they felt no particular connection to Hillary Clinton, though they planned to vote for her, if they voted. Many said the Ferguson protests and the continuing movement against police violence had changed their perspective, making them more cynical about the possibility of change and more alert to the problems plaguing their communities.

At Freestyle Barber & Beauty, the sweet smells of hair products and incense wafted through the air; a Law & Order rerun played on a television up front, alongside an ancient-looking soda machine and posters of Tupac Shakur and Bob Marley.

“She’s what we got; she ain’t nothing we hoped for,” said Mike Knox, 35, who owns the barbershop. “I just think she better than Trump.”

“All the stuff he says about Muslims, about black people, it’s disturbing,” said Dolly Woods, 28, the receptionist. “I guess he do say stuff other Republicans would like to say but don’t say.” She distrusts Clinton, but said there’s no question she will vote.

Next door, at M&E African Hair Braiding and Beauty Supply, seven women were having their hair braided by African immigrants, a process that can take all day. Chanta Scott, a 41-year-old who works at a senior center, was one of them. “I think we’re in trouble either way, but I most definitely won’t be voting for Trump,” she said.

Safi Bah, a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, looked up from the braids she was making to express a more positive view. “I am a Democrat and I will vote for Hillary,” she said in a lilting accent. “I love her, 100 percent.” Of Trump, she said, “He’s a disgrace to America.”

Trump’s campaign contends that he is actually doing well with black voters, citing a couple of polls in which he has drawn as much as 20 percent of the African American vote. (Because of the small number of African Americans surveyed in any given poll, this number can vary widely.)