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AFRO-LATINX REPRESENTATION AT UF A brief look at UF's racial & ethnic demographics Sources: US Census Bureau, UF Enrollment Statistics, the Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America (PERLA), Pew Research Center, & The Alligator Archives
More Latinx students are enrolled in universities than ever before in the United States, including UF. According to the United States Census Bureau, "from 1996 to 2016, the number of Hispanic students enrolled in schools, colleges and universities doubled from 8.8 million to 17.9 million."
“I am proud. I am here, and I exist.” Shania Stephens “I Am Enough: Afro-Latinx Panel"
UF LATINX ENROLLMENT
Today Hispanic students make up 22.7% of all enrolled students. UF’s class of 2023 broke records with their test scores and GPAs. Hispanic/Latinx students make up 19% of the class.
AFRO-LATINX IN THE US Don't know/Refused 4%
Not Afro-Latinx 72.3%
Afro-Latinx 23.8%
Pew Research Center Data
AFRO-LATINX AT UF From 1997 through 2009, to self-report race, UF students had to choose one option (e.g. White or Black/AfricanAmerican or Asian or another). In 2010, UF added the option to self-report having two or more racial backgrounds Hispanic/Latinx included.
2006 2018 Hispanic/Latinx 11.2%
Other 88.8%
Hispanic/Latinx 19.1%
Other 80.9%
UF Enrollment Statistics
Many Latinx individuals tie their identity to their ancestral countries of origin and indigenous roots - Afro-Latinx individuals included. During the long colonial history of Latin America mixing occurred among indigenous Americans, White Europeans, enslaved people from Africa, and people from Asian. Today, about 130 million people of African descent live in Latin America, making up roughly a quarter of the total population.
Despite Hispanic/Latinx being an ethnicity, it has been conflated with race. UF categorizes "Hispanic/Latino" in a list with races. Race is a social construct, defined by physical differences that groups and cultures consider socially significant, while ethnicity refers to the culture a person comes from. Students are given the option to select both “Hispanic/Latino" and then a race. However, the UF system will record them only as “Hispanic/Latino." Pew Research Center Graphic
“The Afro-Latino community has a unique experience where although they may identify as both black and Latino, they may not be accepted by either for various reasons...” Diego Castillo “I Am Enough: Afro-Latinx Panel"
Research & design: Elisabeth Rios-Brooks
Documenting these unique experiences is integral to understanding Afro-Latinx individuals who have endured a long history of cultural and historical erasure. This infographic aims to legitimize the experiences of these individuals as not being one or the other, but both. It also calls for UF to begin documenting AfroLatinx statistics to better serve the needs of this community.