New survey identifies 6M adults in the U.S. as Afro-Latino

A Pew Research Center survey has found that 6 million adults in the United States identify as Afro-Latino, noting that this population experiences higher levels of discrimination than Hispanic people who do not identify as Afro-descendant.

The nonpartisan think tank said in a report released last week that 12 percent of the adult Latino population in the country identifies as Afro-Latino, a distinct identity with deep roots in Latin America that can often exist alongside a person’s Hispanic, racial or national origin identities.

The demographic portrait of Afro-Latino adults, who represent 2 percent of the U.S. population, indicates that 49 percent were born in the U.S. when Puerto Rico is included. The report is based on a survey conducted from November 2019 to June 2020 and an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, and incorporates data from another survey, from March 2021.

Among Afro-Latinos, 29 percent come from Mexico; 23 percent from Puerto Rico; 18 percent from the Dominican Republic; 7 percent from Cuba; and 5 percent from El Salvador, the survey found. An additional 14 percent belong to other non-identified Hispanic or Latino origins.

“The most interesting thing we found in our research was the fact that when you ask about Afro-Latino identity of the overall adult population in the U.S., you get a small share of those who identify as Afro-Latino who actually do not check the box of being Latino or Hispanic in a typical race and ethnicity question like the one asked by the census and others,” said Ana GonzalezBarrera.

“We did not ask why about 1 in 7 Afro-Latinos do not identify as Hispanic or Latino,” added GonzalezBarrera. “But our results point to the fact that AfroLatino identity is unique and encompasses more than just a race or ethnic label.”

A possible explanation for some Afro-Latinos not checking the box for Hispanic or Latino “is simply an unapologetic embrace of our culture without having to explain ourselves, particularly to those who have historically oppressed us,” said Will Guzmán, a history professor at Prairie View A&M University, referring to Spanish or Portuguese colonizers of Latin American countries.

Among Afro-Latinos, the report says that those who did not identify with the Hispanic ethnic marker were more likely to choose Black as their race. Among all Afro-Latino adults, 28 percent identified as white and 25 percent as Black, while the rest chose “some other race” or multiple races.

Afro-Latinos can be of any race, or multiple races, and reflect a profile that some experts associate with the increasing mixing of American identities.

Culture, challenges

In the U.S., where race is a marker structurally engraved in society, a diverse heritage signifies both cultural richness and challenges for Afro-Latinos.

“To be Afro-Latina in the U.S. means many things you can choose to live and exist at an intersection of various identities,” said Jasminne Mendez, an Afro-Latina of Dominican descent in Houston who is a poet and author of several books. “It also means to never feel like enough of one or the other — not Black enough, not Latino enough. Being Afro-Latina in Texas has had many struggles for me because I don’t fit to the quote-unquote ‘standard’ of what it means to look like a Latina, but I do identify as Latina and ethnically identify as Dominican, and I’m very proud of that fact.”

Mendez added that “folks wish to put us in these boxes where you have to be X, Y or Z, and I think that Afro-Latinos defy and challenge that.” One of her books, “Islands Apart: Becoming Dominican American,” set for release on May 31, is a memoir for teens exploring the meaning of growing up being “other” in the U.S.

The multiple dimensions of Latino identity reflect the long colonial history of Latin America, during which mixing occurred among indigenous Americans, white Europeans, Asians, and enslaved people from Africa, GonzalezBarrera said.

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, there were 15 times as many African slaves forcibly taken to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America than to the U.S., the report notes. It cited the Slave Voyages initiative, a database of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Approximately 130 million people of African descent live in that region.

Discrimination

The survey said AfroLatino adults, who were more likely to characterize their skin color as darker than other Latinos in the survey, also face more racism than Hispanics overall.

Sixty-one percent of Afro-Latinos say they have personally experienced at least one incident of discrimination, higher than the 54 percent level reported by Hispanics who do not identify as Afro-descendants, the report says.

Guzmán noted that this group has endured institutional discrimination and racial oppression dating back to the 16th century. “And when they come to the United States, they are hoping to leave that behind …However, because of whiteness, because of white supremacy … they see the remnants of that discrimination continuing.”

Afro-Latinos face various forms of discrimination, from being told to go back to their country to being called offensive names, the report said. Afro-Latinos are also three times more likely to report being unfairly stopped by police than non-Afro Latinos, and targeted more often when speaking Spanish.

Guzmán said that other common cultural distinctions that Afro-Latinos continue to cultivate in the U.S. can also make them targets.

“I would add cultural markers such as religion, dress patterns and even something as nuanced as mannerisms” can lead to discrimination, Guzmán said. He noted that even Afro-Latinos who identify as white often are targeted for reflecting their West African backgrounds, such as Yoruba traditions and religions that are prominent in the Caribbean and Brazil.

Still, Guzmán said most Afro-Latinos take great pride in their rich cultures and background.

“What’s beautiful about being Afro-Latino is that we have the opportunity to bridge both brown and Black communities together if we are just given the opportunity to exist and advocate in both spaces,” Mendez said. “We proudly exist in all these spaces and in all these ways.”