Afro-Latino identity is a distinct one, with deep roots in colonial Latin America. As a result, it can often exist alongside a person’s Hispanic, racial or national origin identities1. The life experiences of Afro-Latinos are shaped by race, skin tone and other factors, in ways that differ from other Hispanics 1.
In the U.S., Latinos with Caribbean roots are more likely to identify as Afro-Latino or Afro-Caribbean than those with roots elsewhere (34% versus 22%, respectively) 2. Those who identify as Afro-Latino are more concentrated on the East Coast and in the South than other Latinos (65% of Afro-Latinos live in these regions vs. 48% of other Latinos) 2. They are also more likely than other Latinos to be foreign born (70% vs. 52%), less likely to have some college education (24% vs. 37%), and more likely to have lower family incomes 2.
About six-in-ten Afro-Latinos reported family incomes below $30,000 in 2013, compared with about half of those who did not identify as Afro-Latino (62% vs. 47%) 2. When asked directly about their race, only 18% of Afro-Latinos identified their race or one of their races as black2. 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%) 2.
The main aspects which distinguish Black Hispanics born in the United States of America from African Americans is having Spanish as their mother tongue or most recent ancestors’ native language, their culture passed down by their parents, and their Spanish surnames 3.
Learn more: 1. pewresearch.org 2. pewresearch.org 3. en.wikipedia.org 4. cnn.com 5. journalofethics.ama-assn.org