ASKEW SCHOLARS | UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
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.
Afro-Latinx Representation at UF This study, funded by the Askew Scholars Program, aims to understand how UF Afro-Latinx students' racial and ethnic identity informs their everyday interactions and lived experiences through literature reviews, expert opinions, and interviews.
Research Questions How do Afro-Latinx students navigate predominantly White spaces and negotiate which performative conventions to employ? How does proximity to Whiteness impact how Afro-Latinx individuals perceive themselves vs. how they are perceived by others?
Themes & Codes After conducting 5 interviews with UF Afro-Latinx students, the transcripts were combed for overlapping themes and ideas. These were then translated into 3 main themes with their concurrent codes, or supporting points.
PROXIMITY TO WHITENESS
"NOT ENOUGH"
HAIR
Performance of
"Not fully Black"
Hair as identity
Whiteness
Lack of experiences
Hair as symbol of
Need to adapt as a
related to what the
pride/empowermentÂ
means of survival
Black/Hispanic exp. is
Hair as symbol of
Keen awareness of
"supposed" to be
rebellion
surroundings
"Half Black & half
Hair as a source of
Keen awareness of how
Hispanic"
power
one is being perceived
Language as a primary
Straightening/cutting/
Accommodating
identifier of identity
relaxing hair
Whiteness
Speaking "White"
Conforming vs. rebelling
Exhaustion
Cannot be both
(White beauty standard)
It's not 100% Black, it's not 100% Hispanic, it's 100% Afro-Latinx. "I am Afro-Latinx, but I wouldn't "What I have on my
directly be
head already isn't
racialized as Black
in America."
good enough."
"I'm like
"I'm not mixed enough."
"Although we like to
and have been told to like take it down a notch."
say, 'Oh, be yourself.' That's not what we
"I think it's unique... I've grown to like
actually mean... We mean be the
socially
acceptable version of yourself."
too proper
my curls I've grown to like the color of my skin and just like everything."
"It's kind of weird, because in some ways they want you to like look
more White. In other ways, they don't."
"I came into this interview... worried. I wanted to be
Black enough and I wanted to be Latino enough for your interview, if that makes sense."
CONCLUSION ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS OR DEFICITS OF BEING AFRO-LATINX? "Honestly, I just
I like myself as
"
love the fact
Afro-Latino or
that I'm not just
mix or whatever
one thing."
the hell I am."
Straight benefits across the board... I haven't wanted to like fit in a box
"
and I feel like having this intersecting identity just lets me - I'm still working up
I don't have to be one or the other. I kind of have two cultures to embrace and there's never ending fun."
to being more comfortable, but
A special thanks to the McNair Scholars Program, the Reubin Askew Scholars Program, the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, Dr. Rosana Resende, and Grace Chun.