SURVEY: U.S. Afro-Latinos More Likely to Identify as White Than Black

By Kenrya Rankin Mar 01, 2016

A new survey points to a disconnect in how some Afro-Latinos living in the U.S. report their race. The Pew Research Center found that while 24 percent of U.S.-based Latinos identify as Afro-Latino, just 18 percent of that group reports its race as “Black.”

A quarter of U.S. Hispanics identify as Afro-Latino

Per the report:

When asked directly about their race, only 18% of Afro-Latinos identified their race or one of their races as black. In fact, higher shares of Afro-Latinos identified as white alone or white in combination with another race (39%) or volunteered that their race or one of their races was Hispanic (24%). Only 9% identified as mixed race.

How U.S. Afro-Latinos report their race

Other key findings:

  • They tend to live in the South or on the East Coast (65 percent)
  • They tend to have Caribbean roots (34 percent)
  • They are more likely to have lower household incomes than other U.S. Latinos
  • They are likely to have been born outside the U.S. (70 percent)
  • They are less likely to have some college education than other Latinos (24 percent, versus 37 percent)