The purpose of this work is to explore the relevance of race as reflected online via the social networking nites (SNS), Facebook. Specifically, a Sociological Discourse Analysis of The Black-Latin@ Collective `group' discussions on Facebook from 2007-2008 was conducted to understand whether Afrolatino/as' dialogues engage constructions of race as evident in U.S. and Latin American discourses. In these discussions, evidence suggests that AfroLatino/as negotiate situational insider-outsider statuses within AfroLatina/o, Latino/a, and African-American spaces based on race, color, and language use. These Facebook users expressed finding community within a special interest group, though conversations encompassed varying levels of support, and sometimes conflicting approaches to addressing colorism and racial discrimination among Latino/as. The study's findings also suggest that agents of socialization such as family, work environments, and media reproduced racial hierarchies and impacted users' perceptions of race and color. Commenters challenged the Latino/a homogenization reflected in the U.S. Latino/a-Black-White racial trichotomy. Finally, participants discussed the complexity of adopting the label `AfroLatino/a.' Overall, findings illustrate that as U.S. demographics changes, race as it intersects with other identities is continuously relevant in everyday life.
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