Black Hispanic and Latino Americans
Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, also called Afro-Hispanics, Afro-Latinos, Black Hispanics, or Black Latinos, are classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget, and other U.S. government agencies as Black people living in the United States with ancestry in Latin America or Spain and/or who speak Spanish.
Hispanidad, which is independent of race, is the only ethnic category, as opposed to racial category, which is officially collated by the U.S. Census Bureau. The distinction made by government agencies for those within the population of any official race category, including "Black", is between those who report Hispanic backgrounds and all others who do not. Non-Hispanic Blacks consists of an ethnically diverse collection of all others who are classified as Black or African American that do not report Hispanic ethnic backgrounds.
History
The Hispanic model of identity and representation has been historically characterized by its multi-faceted nature, which transcends strict racial categorizations. Numerous figures exemplify this complexity, including Martín de Porres, Beatriz de Palacios, Spanish conquistador Juan Garrido that established the first commercial wheat farm in the Americas, Estevanico, Francisco Menendez, Juan de Villanueva, Juan Valiente,, Pedro Fulupo, Juan Bardales, Antonio Pérez, Gómez de León, Leonor Galiano, Teresa Juliana de Santo Domingo and Juan García. Additionally, Juan Latino stands out as a significant figure in this discourse; he is recognized as the first black African to attend a European university, ultimately achieving the status of professor. This highlights the notion that the Hispanic identity is not monolithic and is instead enriched by diverse contributions across racial and ethnic lines. Such examples serve to challenge simplistic perceptions of race within the historical narrative of Hispanic culture.Demographics
, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, & Rhode Island have some of the highest percentages of Hispanics identifying as Black, where up to 15% of Hispanics identify as black, compared to 1.9% of Hispanics nationwide. Overall, the Northeast region has the largest concentration of Black Hispanics; this is partly because of the large Puerto Rican, Dominican, and other mostly or partly African descended Hispanic populations in the region.Black Hispanics numbered 1,163,862 and accounted for 1.9% of the entire U.S. Hispanic population in 2020, down from 1,243,471. Additionally, according to Jessica E. Peña, Ricardo Henrique Lowe, Jr. and Merarys Ríos-Vargas, the U.S. Census Bureau, for the 2020 Census, recoded, or categorized, data for this population into multiple categories which allowed those who are multiracial, Black Hispanics to also be counted. When including individuals who are multiracial, Black Hispanics, the population count increases to 2.6 million people. The authors show that different categorizations create different understandings of the size of the community.
Most Black Hispanics in the United States come from within the Dominican and Puerto Rican populations. Aside from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, large numbers of Black Hispanics can also be found in populations originating from northern South America, and the Caribbean coast of Central America as well, including the Panamanian and Colombian communities, as well as the Garifuna people especially from Honduras, and to a lesser extent, the Cuban community.
Because views of race in Latin America and the United States are slightly different, there is a fluidity in identifying with terms such as "black" or "Afro Latino" among Latinos in the United States. Recent immigrants from Latin America are more likely to embrace mixed identities while thinking less of their African side, and some immigrant Latinos who are full black with little to no admixture do not identify as black. In contrast, Latinos who have lived in the United States for several generations are more likely to adopt urban afrocentric mentalities from African Americans and abandon that of their home countries, embracing the One-drop rule. This is especially true for large portions of the Puerto Rican and now Dominican communities on the East Coast. Some white and mixed Latinos who are Americanized, in effect to embracing African American Hip Hop culture and the One drop rule, self-identify as "Afro Latino".
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. Of all Hispanic groups, Puerto Ricans have the closest relationship with the African American community. As a result of this, there is also increasing intermarriages and offspring between non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics of any race, mainly between Puerto Ricans and African Americans, which increases both the Hispanic ethnic and black racial demographics.
In May 2022, Pew Research Center reported that there were an estimated six million Afro-Latino people in the United States, comprising 2% of the adult U.S. population, and 12% of adult Latinos. They also stated that one-in-seven Afro-Latinos did not "identify as Hispanic" and that 30% of Afro-Latino adults were 18 to 29. The report also stated that Afro-Latinos are more likely to be from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic than from Mexico, noting that 40% of people had their families talk about challenges they'd face for their ethnic identity when they grew up, and that the "racial groups Afro-Latinos identify with can be varied and diverse." In the latter case, the report stated that about 30% of Afro-Latinos identified as White, 25% as Black, 23% as "some other race," 16% as "multiple races" and 1% as Asians.
Health
A review of twenty-one studies found Black Hispanics to have poorer health compared to White Hispanics. The causes are still unknown, but researchers suggested that racial discrimination and segregation may contribute to racial health differences among the Hispanic population in the United States. Environmental racism continues to be a major cause of racialized health disparities in the United States. For example, over 5 million people of color live within 1.8 miles of hazardous waste facilities. Furthermore, Air pollution in low income communities of color continues to be an issue in places such as the Bronx where Sulfur Dioxide levels have caused high rates of childhood asthma Another big environmental issue is access to clean water. For example, in Flint, Michigan lead contaminated water has led to major health issues that disproportionately affect African American, and Latino American communities. Some of these issues include elevated levels of lead found in blood, rashes, hair loss, as well as congenital disabilities. This combined with socio-economic, language, and documentation barriers that restrict the access of adequate health care makes these populations more vulnerable to health issues compared to white Americans.A major health issue within communities of color in the U.S. is the lack of access to fresh, and unprocessed foods. The consumption of highly processed foods in Latino and/or Black communities is linked to higher rates of health issues such as diabetes, Heart disease, And even cancer.
Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are impacted by larger patterns of inequality, which are intricately linked to these differences in health coverage and access. Even though the Affordable Care Act improved health coverage, there are still large disparities, especially among Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native people who are not old. These groups are more likely than their White counterparts to be uninsured, according to data from recent years. For instance, the uninsured rate for white Americans is 7% as of 2022, while it is still a startlingly high 18% and 19% for nonelderly Hispanic and Asian Americans, respectively.
These difficulties underscore the pressing need for focused policy changes to address the wider social determinants of health that disproportionately impact minority groups in the United States, in addition to health insurance coverage.
Although Black Hispanics are often overlooked or dichotomized as either "black" or "Hispanic" in the United States of America, Black Hispanic writers often reflect upon their racialized experience in their works. The most commonly used term in literature to speak of this ambiguity and multilayered hybridity at the heart of Latino/Latina identity and culture is miscegenation. This "mestizaje" depicts the multi-faceted racial and cultural identity that characterize Black Hispanics and highlights that each individual Black Hispanic has a unique experience within a broader racial and ethnic range.
Civil rights
Data from a 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center shows that Hispanic people in the US with darker skin color are more likely to face incidents of discrimination than those with lighter skin. The survey asked participants to self-identify their skin color, and then asked series of questions about the kinds of discrimination they faced. When asked whether they faced at least one instance of discrimination in the last year, 64% of darker-skinned Hispanic adults responded that they had. When asked the same question, 54% of lighter-skinned Hispanic adults responded the same. As for the specific discrimination experienced:- 42% of darker-skinned Hispanic people said they were treated as if they were not smart, compared to 34% of those with lighter skin.
- 42% of darker-skinned Hispanic people said they experienced discrimination by someone who is non-Hispanic, compared to 29% of those with lighter skin.
- 41% of darker-skinned Hispanic people said they experienced discrimination by someone who is Hispanic, compared to 25% of those with lighter skin.
- 33% of darker-skinned Hispanic people were criticized for speaking Spanish, compared to 22% of those with lighter skin.
- 32% of darker-skinned Hispanic people were told to go back to their country compared to 20% of those with lighter skin.
- 27% of darker-skinned Hispanic people feared for their personal safety, compared to 20% of those with lighter skin.
- 31% of darker-skinned Hispanic people were called offensive names, compared to 18% of those with lighter skin.
- 16% of darker-skinned Hispanics were unfairly stopped by police, compared to 8% of those with lighter skin.
A Pew Research report published in May 2022 surveyed Afro-Latinos. Findings included 61% of Afro-Latinos saying they were discriminated against, including be more likely than other Latinos in being stopped by police, criticized by others for speaking Spanish in a public place, and people around them thinking they are "not smart."
Jessica Lavariega Monforti and Gabriel R. Sanchez, as part of their larger research article, wanted to understand if being Black has an impact on if Latinos feel discriminated against by other Latinos. Using “2002 Kaiser/Pew Latino National Survey” data, they show that there was a p-value of less than 0.05 for the category "Black racial identification;” however, there is no statistical significance for this category when the data was separated by "national-origin".This signifies that being Black is a factor when looking at the Latino population as a unit, but the same could not be said when the population was divided by “national-origin”. With regard to “national-origin”, it is important to note for that there is a category for “Central/South American”, so some identities were grouped; though, not all Latin American nationalities were covered in the original dataset either.