THE BLACK-LATIN@ COLLECTIVE: IDENTITY NEGOTIATION AMONG
BLACK LATIN@S ON FACEBOOK
By
Violeta A. Donawa

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Sociology – Master of Arts
2014

	
  

ABSTRACT
THE BLACK-LATIN@ COLLECTIVE: IDENTITY NEGOTIATION AMONG
BLACK LATIN@S ON FACEBOOK
By
Violeta A. Donawa
The purpose of this work is to explore the relevance of race as reflected online via the social
networking sites (SNS), Facebook. Specifically, a Sociological Discourse Analysis of The BlackLatin@1 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. The online group 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 family, work environments, and media
reproduced racial hierarchies and impacted users’ perceptions of race and color. Overall, findings
illustrate that as U.S. demographics changes, race as it intersects with other identities is
continuously relevant in everyday life.

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
1

	
  Spanish uses a gendered language component to distinguish between male and female terms or
	
  

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... iv
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................. 5
RACIAL IDEOLOGY & FRAMEWORKS ............................................................................................. 7
ETHNIC BOUNDARIES AND SELF-VERIFICATION ...................................................................... 10
COLLECTIVE IDENTITY AND FACEBOOK .................................................................................... 11
FUNCTIONS OF FACEBOOK.............................................................................................................. 12

METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 13
DEMOGRAPHICS ................................................................................................................................. 15
PRIVACY ............................................................................................................................................... 16

Analytical Procedures ................................................................................................................. 17
FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................... 18
AFROLATINO/A LABEL: WHAT’S IN A NAME? ............................................................................ 19
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION: PEER GROUPS, MEDIA, AND FAMILY .................................... 22
UNDERSTANDINGS OF RACE AND RACIAL CLASSIFICATIONS ............................................. 27

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 31
WORKS CITED.......................................................................................................................... 34

iv	
  

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1. METHODOLOGICAL PROCESS TO EXAMINE ELECTRONIC DISCOURSE
WITHIN THE BLACK-LATIN@ COLLECTIVE DISCUSSION FORUM ON
FACEBOOK………………………………………………………………………………...14

TABLE 2. CASES, COMMENT, AND COMMENTER COUNT……………………………..18

TABLE 3: CASE 1 - ‘AFROLATINO/A’: WHAT’S IN A NAME?...........................................20

TABLE 4: CASE 2 - CHALLENGES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF ‘LATINO/A’ AND
‘BLACK’……………………………………………………………………………………23

TABLE 5: CASE 4 - AFRICAN-DESCENDENT POPULATIONS, ENUMERATION, AND
RACIALIZATION………………………………………………………………………….27

v	
  

INTRODUCTION
AfroLatina/o identity in the Americas has been researched for years. In Wade’s (2006)
assessment, AfroLatina/o Studies have focused on three main areas: a comparative analysis
between Latin America and the United States regarding the gravity of slavery and the impact of
the political economy on sexual relationships and ‘race’ mixing; the effects of systemic racial
discrimination on African-descendants in Latin America and the United States; and the
relationship between racial classification and culture, more specifically whether having African
culture and being Black are the same within the context of the Americas. All three areas of
research bifurcate where the AfroLatina/o subject is assumed to be, i.e., not on the US mainland.
Despite comparisons with the United States within this literature, AfroLatina/os are not directly
associated within the discourse of US racial politics, even as it relates to Black immigration
(Waters 1994). I argue that studies focused on AfroLatina/os in the US represent a fourth branch
of AfroLatina/o Studies. We know little about the role of AfroLatina/os in shaping US racial
politics at large, especially as it relates to a rising Latina/o population.
It should be noted that general consensus in the literature describes the population of
interest as AfroLatina/o, Black Latina/o, and to a lesser extent, LatiNegra/o. In my work, I
combine experiences of AfroLatina/os in the US and position this term as a pan-ethnoracial
identity. This means that groups of (Afro)Latin American-descent from any of the twenty-two
Latin American countries who now reside in the US are of sociological interest as it relates to
their commonalities. Conversely, Spanish-based works that discuss Afro-descendants in Latin
America generally refer to this group as afrodescendiente, negra/o, or as a Black ethnic group
(e.g., Afro-Antillana/o or Costenos for Black groups born along the coastline as in Panama,
Nicaragua, and Honduras). In Portuguese-based scholarship, Afro-descendants are generally
1	
  

references as afrodescendente, negra/o, or preta/o. As Bryce-Laporte (1972) explains,
AfroLatina/os include a medley of “Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and maybe Frenchspeaking blacks of different national combinations and multiple cultural or ethnic permutations”
(p. 38). However, for this work, I am not including those from French-speaking nations.
Many US AfroLatina/os are products of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) of
1965 which sought to rectify previous immigration policies that primarily only accomodated
white, Western European immigrants. They are both immigrant and native-born. In this work, I
discuss the immigrant story as a backdrop to the experiences of those are native-born (at least 2nd
generation). AfroLatina/os can varyingly fit into African-American and the broader Latino/a
group in the US. With this, they can experience differing levels of in- and outgroup membership
(Bryce-Laporte 1972). This membership negotiation is often mediated by levels of
consciousness, intra-ethnic group racism, or intra-racial ethnocentricism.
In tandem with the historical reorganizations of the racial order in the United States
(Hochschild and Powell 2008), post-1960 racial hierarchies reflect dominant U.S. ideologies that
consequently produced a Black-White racial framework. According to the U.S. Census Bureau
(2000), Latino/as are the largest minority in the nation, accounting for 16% of the U.S.
population. With the rising population and political presence of Latino/as in the U.S., the
racialization and social mobilization surrounding Latino/a identity has become another central
component of the U.S. racialization framework. Consequently, a Black-Latino/a-White
framework has begun to emerge in the literature. Still, Latino/as are not a homogenous group and
do not all experience racialization equally given that Latino/as can be multiple (Jimenez-Roman
and Flores 2010).
This thesis examines the ways AfroLatina/os have negotiated their identities as expressed
2	
  

through online comments. According to Jimenez-Roman and Flores (2009), the concept of triple
consciousness involves the AfroLatina/o tradition, transnational and national ethnoscapes, and
the relationships between Latina/os and African-Americans (Flores & Jimenez-Roman, 2009).
The AfroLatina/o tradition represents the social, psychological, and cultural realities present
among those who self-identify or are of visible African ancestry. Latina/os generally identify
with national and ethnic origins, but there has been a push in recent years to more fully capture
Latina/o experience using a racial lens.
Self-identification and naming practicing of immigrants typically represent ethnic
boundary keeping or social distancing. Many scholars have found that Black immigrants and
subsequent generations may make corrective attempts to distinguish one’s blackness from
African Americans to avoid being associated with negative stereotypes popularly propagated as
Black behaviors (Waters 2001). Ethnic boundary keeping is often maintained through the
establishment of ethnic communities or economies. This boundary maintenance does not
necessarily have to overlap with social distancing.
In the case of AfroLatina/os, Rivera (2006) offers another reason for black distinction
from ‘African Americans’:
Being mistaken for an African American, from my perspective, suggests that my
Blackness is not derived from my geographical and historical context, but, rather, it is
constructed through the lens of the U.S. mainland’s Black-White racial dichotomy (173).
As observed, constructions related to the concept of AfroLatino/a identity interact with U.S.
constructs. Still, Black immigrants and subsequent generations are often compared to African
Americans due to similar social conditions and racial features. Second and later generations are
thought to eventually become African American as they face issues such as downward mobility
and begin to blend into the African American community. However difficulties arise in

3	
  

understanding how Blacks who are non-African American are positioned within the U.S. “preexisting racial order (Foner and Fredrickson 2004). AfroLatino/as and African Americans share
various similarities in the US, but one must caution not to conflate AfroLatino/a and African
American identities without risking discursive erasure and group invisibility.
This study examines the extent to which online discussions regarding identity reflect
continued relevance and social meanings given to race as understood by members of the
Facebook ‘group’ started by East Coast-based nonprofit organization The Black-Latin@
Collective whose activities predominately exist on a traditional website and offline. This nonprofit is part of an emerging trend of organizations creating an online presence via webblogs,
social networking sites (SNSs), and traditional websites, for mobilization, information sharing,
and awareness raising (Ellison et. Al 2011). As such, web-based sociological inquiry is necessary
to understand these processes in the 21st century. The current study posits the following research
questions:

(1) What are the themes that emerge surrounding the concept of AfroLatino/a identity in
the U.S. within The Black-Latin@ Collective Facebook ‘group’?
(2) What existing racial and ethnic frameworks are challenged or supported surrounding
the concept of AfroLatino/a identity in The Black-Latin@ Collective Facebook ‘group’?

4	
  

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The following section focuses on the theoretical framework to understand the function of
racialization through ideologies and frameworks. A growing body of literature on Africandescendants in Latin America has emerged during the past few decades (Minority Rights Group
1995), though the experience of descendants in the U.S. has been overlooked in several ways.
First, discussions of the “Black experience” have largely been associated and used
interchangeably with African Americans. Also, when other Black experiences are discussed,
these largely reflect Black West Indian and Caribbean communities with largely Anglophone
backgrounds and African immigrant communities (Waters 2001). Current scholarship points to
various reasons why Black immigrants may distance themselves from a ‘Black’ identity in the
U.S., as there is a strong push toward dissociation with African-Americans, as well as a desire
for their blackness to be understood in specific ethnic contexts. Despite this literature, web-based
academic inquiry into understanding the diverse forms of blackness and specifically,
“AfroLatino/a” as concept and group has yet to be fully developed or understood.
According to Ignacio national and racial identities are imagined and subsequently
legitimated through social structures, institutions, transnational and domestic policies, and
financial markets. Because of this, it is important to explore reimagining processes that include
the emergent concept of AfroLatino/a identity in the U.S. This discussion of racialization in the
US has long been under sociological investigation and has undergone much critique (Gold 2004).
As an extension of this critique, groups that exist outside of the traditional U.S. Black-White
model need to be understood within contemporary discourses surrounding race and race
relations. I propose a qualitative approach in an attempt to understand these processes through

5	
  

the deconstruction of online discussions as reflecting particular racial ideologies and
frameworks.
DESCRIPTION OF ‘AFROLATINO/A’
Generally, ‘Latino/a’ racialization represents the racial ideology of mestizaje incepted in
Latin America, accounting for racial categories inclusive of Spanish and/or indigenous ancestry,
but not African ancestry. The most comprehensive work on AfroLatino/as in the U.S. is ‘The
Afro-Latin@ Reader,’ which provides a series of scholarly articles from multiple disciplines and
fields, as well as personal narratives surrounding AfroLatino/as in the U.S. pre-1900 to the
present. Content focuses on lived experiences, religions, political contributions, the arts, gender
inequality, the workplace, and education (Jimenez-Roman and Flores 2010). The authors have
made several contributions about the significance of ‘Afrolatino/a’:
•

Its conceptualization is anchored in transnational ties and global social movements;

•

‘AfroLatino/a’ has served to identify anti-racist movements recognized by the World
Conference on Racism: Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance in
Durban, South Africa in 2001;

•

The study of AfroLatino/as has made possible the conceptualization and documentation of a
new field of study;

•

‘AfroLatino/a’ as a term confronts anti-Black racism among Latino/a communities;

•

‘AfroLatino/a’ emerged in the U.S. to identify racial, cultural, and socioeconomic
contradictions within the concept of ‘Latino/a’.

•

The presence of triple-consciousness among AfroLatino/as in the US as Black, Latin@, and
American.
Demographically, there are 180 million African-descendants in Latin America and
6	
  

nearly 3 million in the US as of 2000 (Jimenez-Roman and Flores 2010). In the U.S.
AfroLatino/as comprise 2.5% of the current US Latino/a population and have experienced a 50%
population growth since 1980. AfroLatino/as are also more likely to be US born and less likely
to speak Spanish in the home compared to other Latino/as (Logan 2003). According Logan
(2003), they also experience lower employment rates than African Americans, to whom they are
most often compared. Finally, AfroLatino/a children were also more likely to have one
AfroLatino/a parent and one non-Hispanic Black parent compared to having two AfroLatino/a
parents (Logan 2003).
Along with socio-demographic differences, we find differences in political beliefs.
Generally, AfroLatino/as indicate more support of government sponsored healthcare and less
support of capital punishment compared to Latino/as who identified as White (Nicholson,
Pantoja, and Segura 2005). Differences with issues of mental health have also been explored.
Reportedly, Afro-Latina adolescents are more likely to suffer from depressive symptoms than
African Americans, white Americans, and other Latino/as (Ramos, Jaccard, and Guilamo-Ramos
2003). Ultimately, AfroLatino/as face a complex position, that of double minority status within
US Latino/a and Black communities (Ramos, Jaccard, and Guilamo-Ramos 2003).
RACIAL IDEOLOGY & FRAMEWORKS
Ideologies shape individuals’ understandings of social reality. While discussing how
racial ideologies impact racialized groups over time, it is important to note that the U.S. BlackWhite model had undergone its own transformations. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, some
states distinguished black and mulatto African-Americans as distinct groups legally and

7	
  

institutionally (Middleton 2008). In the 20th century, the rule of hypodescent2 was instated,
bringing the groups together under one classification. According to Middleton (2008), although
many African-Americans share similar black and white racial lineages as in the Dominican
Republic, the U.S. had a distinctly different path for racialization. The varying bifurcations based
on geographical, linguistic, historical, and cultural differences is where AfroLatino/as and
African-Americans diverge despite similarities due to the TransAtlantic Slave Trade, experiences
with discrimination and marginalization. Institutions, laws, and social reification shaped the
evolution of Black identity and other racial identities differently.
Bonilla-Silva (2006) compares current U.S. colorblind racism to the treatment of race
prevalent in Latin America. Constituted by the Jim Crow era in the U.S. (Bonilla-Silva and
Forman 2000), Black-White racial binary did not emerge in Latin America. Instead in the early
20th century, the ideology of mestizaje gained much attention and worked to reduce the
significance of racial differences. Instead of an emergent Black-White dichotomy, a Black-White
continuum emerged with a mosaic of categories based on “hair texture, eye color, culture,
education, class” denoted by color (182). Understandings of this process still remain. As such,
with Latino/a emigration to the U.S., Latino/as may undergo another racializing categorization
process influenced by U.S. understandings of race and race relations (Rivera 2006).

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
2

	
  The rule of hypodescent legally ensured that mixed-race African-Americans did not receive societal privileges
afforded to Whites. Ultimately, anyone with an ‘ascertainable quantum of African blood’ was designated as racially
Black (as quoted in Middleton 2008).	
  
8	
  

In the United States, the color continuum and racial binary differ in their evolutions but
are similar in their distribution of social privileges associated with racial-color-physical3 features.
According to Cruz-Janzen (2001), in describing color categories for afrolatinas:
They are the darkest negras, morenas, and prietas, the brown and golden cholas and
mulatas, and the wheat colored triguenas. They are the light-skinned jabas with black
features and the grifas with white looks but whose hair defiantly announces their
ancestry. They are the Spanish-looking criollas, and the pardas and zambas who carry
indigenous.
One of the primary similarities between Latino/a and African-American understandings
of these racial-color-physical features is that lighter skin is perceived as more attractive, leading
to more social privileges within the community. Conversely, association with darker skin is
treated as less attractive and garners fewer social privileges (Fraser and Gordon 1998).
As a result of this stance, some scholars have discussed anti-blackness among immigrant
and non-immigrant Black (non-African-American) groups. They suggest this anti-blackness has
created a division between African-American and other racialized communities, including
Latino/as. Some individuals who are perceived to be darker, are associated with ‘low-status’
culture (Perry 2011), and receive less social privileges may engage in social distancing from
these characteristics. Despite instances of social distancing between racial groups, it is
imperative to account for the role of ethnicity and ethnic groups. As such, distinctions can be
drawn between groups due to the creation and maintenance of ethnic boundaries, which is
different than social distancing (Barth 1970).

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
3

	
  ‘Racial-color-feature’ accounts for the separate and overlapping paradigms used for
categorizing social groups based on race, skin color, and physical features. The US traditional
paradigm more explicitly depends on race. Mestizaje depends on variations of skin color and
physical features along a color continuum. Among African-Americans, there also exists a colorcontinuum. At times these paradigms or continuums are independent, overlap, or coexist.	
  
9	
  

ETHNIC BOUNDARIES AND SELF-VERIFICATION
Ethnic boundaries include self-identification, self-categorization and empirical means to
maintain these boundaries. While ethnicity is treated as an intrinsic self-sustaining concept, Barth
(1970) draws attention to the deliberate actions groups use for identity maintenance. The
deliberate actions used are determined by a particular environment and the opportunities that are
available for maintenance within that environment. Hence, ethnic boundaries act as a selforganizing tool for members based on certain qualities such as values, ideas, culture,
ethnohistory, etc (Barth 1970). They become increasingly salient as ethnic groups migrate and
encounter new groups and possibly new group allegiances, and political circumstances. Despite
heavy emphasis on AfroLatino/as as a racialized group, one must contend the agency involved in
maintaining group boundaries along racial and ethnic lines within domestic and transnational
networks. One of the ways AfroLatino/as appear to be maintaining ethnic group boundaries in
this way is through self-verification through the use of the Social Networking Site (SNS),
Facebook.
Stryker and Burke (2000) define self-verification as “ bringing situationally perceived
self-relevant meanings into agreement with the identity standard ….[and] … seeking and
creating new situations in which perceived self-relevant meanings match those of the identity
standard” (p. 288). These practices also rely on communal activities that promote communication
and sharing of cultural capital. AfroLatino/as may socially, organizationally, and institutionally
fall between the cracks of Latino/as and African-American identities, leaving issues relevant to
the group ignored. According to an interview with Ana Seda, a leading member of the BlackLatin@ Collective, when AfroLatino/as seek financial support for projects, Latino/a
organizations suggest they consult with an African-American organization and the African10	
  

American organization suggest they seek assistance from Latino/a organizations (Seda 2010).
Given the above example, it is clear that while AfroLatino/as are similar to Latino/as and
African-Americans in ways, there are still goals unique to this group that may be facilitated
through the creation of ethnoracial group boundary creation and maintenance. How might these
boundaries look online?
COLLECTIVE IDENTITY AND FACEBOOK
Scholars are increasingly seeing the importance of examining online activity as a
contemporary means of understanding social groups (Ignacio 2011). In the exploration of online
discourse, one must take into account relationships with power. According to Dijk (2003), the
relationship between power and discourse draws on two types of power – access to certain forms
of discourse as a resource, and the ability to influence one’s outlook, understanding, and
knowledge. Dijk (2003) argues that more powerful groups are able to control public discourse.
Within the Facebook ‘group’ under examination, The Black-Latin@ Collective, members are
able to set the tone and dictate the type of discourse shared related to blackness and latinidad, a
characteristic that may be more difficult in everyday life offline.
Oliver and Johnston (2005) explain that social networks are integral places where new
ideologies and theories emerge. Although different from traditionally defined ‘social networks,’
SNSs are also becoming spaces where perspectives on ideology, theory, and social issues are
being addressed. Despite originally being a sole offline non-profit organization, The BlackLatin@ Collective has created the possibility with its activity online to facilitate ideological
reproduction, knowledge sharing, and self-verification. SNSs do not inherently provide an
opportunity to discuss social issues, but particular features on SNSs provide these avenues

11	
  

(Vitak, Ellison, and Steinfield 2011). Therefore, for this study, the Facebook ‘group’ feature is
being used to better understand the everyday relevance of race in the lives of AfroLatino/as.
FUNCTIONS OF FACEBOOK
The Social Networking Site (SNS), Facebook, was created in 2004 and at that time was
only accessible to a select number of Ivy League schools. It has since expanded exponentially to
include other universities, and ultimately to the public. Within the site there are a variety of
features that allow individuals to create profiles of him/herself, create invitations for particular
events, and join ‘groups’ that focus on particular interests. I focus on the ‘group’ feature of
Facebook only. The Facebook ‘group’ includes a ‘creator’ and set of administrators who are able
to adjust initial settings, such as whether the group is public, private, invite-only, and whether
members can invite their ‘friends.’ It also allows for the polling of members and the creation and
sharing of documents and events offline (Facebook 2011). Scholars have identified the Facebook
‘group’ feature as a potential means to build social capital through information-seeking
behaviors (Ellison et. Al 2010).
While many scholars have examined the relationships between users and ‘friends,' this
study explores networking based on a dialogue among 'members' of the 'group'. Specifically, this
work focuses on AfroLatino/as’ use of a ‘group’ to network online and create discussions
surrounding AfroLatino/a identity, race, and related issues. The ultimate goal is to understand
how AfroLatino/as discuss the negotiation of identity within a US context. All of the
administrators within the Black Latin@ Collective group are AfroLatino/as from various regions
in the US.

12	
  

METHODOLOGY
This work is a qualitative attempt to understand how AfroLatinos/as (re)imagine and
(re)negotiate their racial identities between racial paradigms and ideologies. Data analysis relies
on a set of codes iteratively developed based on Sociological Discourse Analysis. The purpose of
Sociological Discourse Analysis is to “provide an explanation of social action based on [the]
subjective viewpoint” (Ruiz-Ruiz 2009). Its role is to use social inter-subjectivity among persons
to inform knowledge about “social order.” Sociologically, discourse analysis demands three
levels of analysis: textual, contextual, and interpretive. According to Ruiz-Ruiz (2009), textual
analysis involves inductive coding and categorizing data into units, positioning discourse as an
object. Contextual analysis places discourse as an object and contextualizes it. Finally,
interpretive analysis considers implications as a step toward developing theory.
Table 1. illustrates these levels and the corresponding questions used to assess these
levels of analysis. The first question attempts to gauge shared issues that demarcate group
membership, or community. The second question addresses the importance of the group’s
ethnoracial background and how that shaped dialogue within the Facebook ‘group.’ Location of
the online conversation is important for several reasons. According to the Pew Research Center’s
“first national survey of how the use of social networking sites (SNSs) by adults is related to
people’s overall social network” (42), Facebook users get more social support and are more
trusting than users of any other major SNS4. In addition, they are the second most politically
gauged SNS users after the professional site, LinkedIn (Hampton et. al 2011). As such, those
participating in the Black-Latin@ Collective during the years under examination may have found

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
4

These major SNSs include Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and a collective Other.
13	
  

this to be a trusting and supportive group to discuss identities. The final question attempts to
gauge how ethnic and racial identity negotiation is shaped or verified among ‘members.’

Table 1. Methodological process to examine electronic discourse within
the Black-Latin@ Collective Discussion Forum on Facebook
STEPS OF
SOCIOLOGICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

QUESTIONS

Textual Analysis – Keyword Search of ‘Group’
Forum

Q. 1 - Are commenters discussing issues of
common concern to the community?

Contextual Analysis – Local meaning of discourse

Q. 2 - Who participated in the discussion? Where
did the discussion take place?

Interpretive Analysis

Q. 3 - What racial ideologies and frameworks are
negotiated within the ‘group’, how and what are the
implications?

Although Ruiz-Ruiz (2009) uses Sociological Discourse Analysis (SDA) to examine text
produced offline5, examining electronic discourse is becoming increasingly relevant as we
become more connected through the internet. As such, SDA has been adapted to electronic
discourse within this work. According to Ruiz-Ruiz (2009), discourse as an outcome of
communication reflects knowledge of one’s social reality. Therefore electronic discourse in an
online discussion forum is viewed as an appropriate research site. In addition, Ruiz-Ruiz (2009)
asserts that sociologists tend to focus on content created through verbal discourse, which is
viewed as “information, ideology, and social product” (Ruiz-Ruiz 2009). Verbal discourse has
the ability to transfer meaning representative of the social world and is therefore the most
popular form of discourse examined within sociology (Ruiz-Ruiz 2009). Especially relevant to
	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
5

	
  When individuals are using the internet, the term ‘online’ is used to encapsulate this activity.
Conversely, ‘offline’ is a term used when individuals are engaged in activities not occurring
while ‘online.’	
  	
  
14	
  

the current work’s focus on discourse and SNSs, Ruiz-Ruiz (2009) explains that meanings
attached to actions or events in one’s everyday life can lead to social action. Capturing the
subjective experiences communicated within these spaces provides a discourse that can inform
objective knowledge produced in social sciences (Ruiz-Ruiz 2009). As such, discussion forums
can be viewed as sites of actions that aid in the legitimization of a social group.
This study examined ‘group’ comments posted in The Black-Latin@ Collective
Facebook ‘group’ for the years 2007-2008. Approved by IRB in July 2011, data was collected
between August 2011 and October 2011. The purpose of the group is to build relationships with
AfroLatino/as and other communities. One can argue that participants of The Black-Latin@
Collective ‘group’ may falsely present themselves as Facebook users because of the ability to
socially construct their identity online (Gosling, Gaddis, and Vazire 2007). Furthermore, it is
widely understood that individuals are known to present themselves in a positive light to others
in everyday situations (Goffman 1959).
Given the widely-held notion that everyone puts their best face forward in electronic
forums, it is relevant to dispel concern regarding discussion participants’ proclivity to falsely
represent themselves regarding their own negotiations and understandings of race. Specifically
for Facebook, Back et. al (2010) found that users mostly represent their actual personalities, not
self-idealized versions of themselves. As such, this work assumes that discussion participants are
presenting issues online that they value offline.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The Black-Latin@ Collective Facebook ‘group’ is open to individuals of all
backgrounds. However, it is likely that AfroLatino/as are most likely to be the majority within

15	
  

the group as the Facebook group belongs to The Black-Latin@ Collective that is originally an
offline nonprofit organization. It is difficult to estimate how many ‘members’ were a part of the
‘group’ during 2007-2008, the years that the online discussions under examination occurred. It
can be stated that at the beginning of this research in August 2011, there were nearly 260 ‘group’
members. In October 2011 ‘group’ membership increased to 390 and increased again to 423
‘group’ members by January 2012. At the very least, this illustrates increasing interest in
AfroLatino/a identity. Among the 26 ‘group’ commenters, there were 102 final comments felt to
be pertinent to my research concerns. Commenters were not anonymous and used actual
Facebook usernames, which were replaced with pseudonyms below. There were 11 males, 14
females, and one unknown. Ten commenters self-disclosed their ethnoracial identities: 9 being
AfroLatino/a6 and 1 being African American.
PRIVACY
Privacy matters were a concern for this study. According to Facebook policy,
‘administrators’ of a group control the group’s privacy settings. There are three types of groups
on Facebook: Open, Closed, and Secret. The Black-Latin@ Collective is considered closed. This
means that information provided within the group can only be viewable to members of that
group. I began data collection by contacting the group’s administrators. I requested to be a part
of the group and upon joining comments were then made available to me and any other member
of the group. Groups function differently from personal profiles and have respective privacy
controls. At no time were personal profiles visited in the study. Only comments that users
provided within the group were examined.
	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
6
	
  Two of these commenters expressed being Black but national identity was more accurate for them as a
label. Hence, rejecting US constructions “Afro-“ and/or “Latino.”	
  
16	
  

ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES
Discussion comments and asynchronous sub-comments (N=102) from 2007 and 2008
were extracted from The Black-Latin@ Collective’s Facebook ‘group’ (Davis and Brewer 1997).
Sub-comments are simply responses to initial comments or posts. Explicit and implicit
ideologies of commenters were examined through the deconstruction of meaning systems
produced in the group through frames, personal stories, and topics addressed. Comments were
broken down into cases, which represent initial posts with a thread of sub-comments. The goal of
analyzing case comments was to understand how commenters understood and negotiated racial
ideologies in their lives.
A digitally recorded, 110 minute, telephone interview was conducted with a leading
member of The Black-Latin@ Collective for a firsthand account regarding why The BlackLatin@ Collective was created, its goal, and the ethno-racial and class background of the creator,
along with the role these identities played into the creation of the non-profit organization. The
semi-structured interview questionnaire included the following sections: (1) Personal
Experiences with Afro-Latina Identity, (2) Black-Latino/a Collective Website, (3) AfroLatino/as
in National Discussion, and (4) Black-Latino/a Collective Facebook Group.

17	
  

FINDINGS
Based on these findings, AfroLatino/as are connecting with one another to question
racialization practices in the U.S., negotiate membership and identity within Latino/a and
African-American communities, and discuss the appropriateness of ‘AfroLatino/a’ as an
adequate group identifier. As shown in Figure 1, the Black-Latino/a-White trichotomy is treated
as mutually exclusive categories. However, U.S. racial ideologies typically ignore the
racialization framework relevant to Latin American countries, and therefore the racial ideologies
that may be salient for Latino/as.
In the group, commenters engaged in a range of self-disclosure strategies surrounding the
posting and “evaluation of articles, autobiographical narratives, statements of personal feelings”
(Davis and Brewer 1997). Although we know that there are individuals who can be considered
AfroLatino/as (Jimenez-Roman and Flores 2010), dark-skinned Latino/as (Bonilla-Silva 2006),
Black Hispanics (Denton and Massey 1989) or Black Latino/as (Darity Jr., et. al 2002) in the
group, the group is not exclusive, leaving the option for members of other racialized
communities to join. It is clear that by joining the ‘group,’ all members had some level of interest
into issues surrounding the concept and the group that can be understood as ‘AfroLatino/a.’
Commenters had varying experiences and views on topics presented. Emergent Topics are listed
in Table 2 below.
TABLE 2. CASES, COMMENT, AND COMMENTER COUNT
ANALYTICAL DATA
CASE
1

CASE TOPICS

COMMENTS
#

Views on ‘AfroLatino/a’ as appropriate
nomenclature

17

18	
  

COMMENTERS
Per/ Thread
10

Table 2 (cont’d)
2

Media representation; ‘Latino/a & Black passes’;
Family

20

8

3

Natural Disaster in Peru; Family messages

2

2

4

African diaspora populations, Family messages,
Views on ‘AfroLatino/a’ as appropriate
nomenclature, One Drop Rule

49

11

5

Blacks in Mexico

7

3

6

Senator Barack Obama’s views on AfroLatino/a

3

2

7

El Cristo Negro de Portobello (Spanish)

3

2

AFROLATINO/A LABEL: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
This section will describe the ways in which AfroLatino/a commenters challenge the
Black-Latino/a-White model while still placing the label ‘AfroLatino/a’ as contested terrain.
First, commenters do not collectively agree on the terms ‘AfroLatino/a’ or even ‘Latino/a’ as
being an appropriate term for those from or with roots to Latin America and the Caribbean,
though ‘Latino/a’ is used in scholarship and everyday situations to describe individuals with
Latin American origins. Discussion emerged that ‘Latino/a’ is inherently a European reference to
the exclusion of African heritage. Commenters ‘debate surrounding ‘Latino/a’ as appropriate
also exists in the literature (Wallerstein 2005). As such, commenters addressed whether adding
the prefix ‘Afro’ to indicate blackness was therefore suitable.
In case 1, the initial post asked whether fellow group members liked or disliked the label
‘AfroLatino/a.’ Of the 10 commenters in this case, half expressed liking the term as it captured
both Latino/a and African roots.
AfroLatino/a identity is not universally defined or employed among participants in The Black-

19	
  

Latin@ Collective Facebook group. Still, it should not be assumed that because individuals debated the
appropriateness of ‘AfroLatino/a’ as a group identifier that members expressed Black denial. Ten of the
26 participants self-disclosed dual Black and Latin American identities but not all adopted the emerging
label, two of the ten identified as AfroLatino/a, one preferred to be identified as ‘Latino.’ Table 3
indicates a snapshot of the diverse responses in Case 1 among group members:
TABLE 3: CASE 1 - ‘AFROLATINO/A’: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
1. AFRO-latino/a, afro-LATINO/A. What's in a name? Okay, group members. Here are some questions for
you. What does that name mean for/to you? Do you like it? Dislike it? Afro? Latino/a? Is there another way to
get the message across? All thoughts are great thoughts... Lorenzo Sullivan (Male, Self-Identified as
Dominican/Puerto Rican)

2. I just consider myself Latino. I am aware of and embrace my African culture entirely, however I do not identify
with mainstream American black culture as I was not raised in it. When people ask what I am, depending on their
level of education I either explain in detail or give them a short answer, 'Blaxican', which is our slang for black
Mexican. - Lonnie Garcia (Male, Self-Identified as Black Mexican)

3. I don't like the term Latino and [would] rather culturally define myself to [others] as AfroDominican / Cocolo.
Afro: African mindset, perspective, and critical thinking. Dominican: born , referring to customs language etc ...
Cocolo: Family lineage. Aset Atreu - (Male, Self-Identified as Black and Dominican)

4. . . . in my honest opinion, regardless of whether the person is half African American half Latino, like my
daughter, or Dominican, like me, the experiences of black Latino/as are impacted by the nexus of black phenotype
and Latin American culture, which more often than not, are evident either through names, accents, or other cultural
cues. . . (Yahira Cedeno, Female, Self-Identified as Black and Dominican)

5. i self identify as black latina. because, having been born and raised in Panama, i share the latino and afro cultures.
and because i also have English west indian heritage, i go further in saying that I am a Afro Latina with West Indian
heritage. I LOVE IT!!! I love who i am and I enjoy being able to merge in and out of various cultures like a
chameleon. Enid Robinson (Female, Self-Identified as AfroLatina, Panamanian)

In subcomment 2, Lorenzo expressed his preference for identifying as primarily Latino. It
is evident that this commenter associates what is widely known as American Black culture as
20	
  

being African American culture, which he explains he is not a part of. His distinction between
Black American and African-American is apparent when ‘mainstream’ is used as a qualifier for
African-American. From this standpoint, one can be considered a non-mainstream Black
American or a mainstream Black American. In this case, non-mainstream Black American refers
to his identity as a ‘black Mexican,’ or Mexican of African descent in the US.
In subcomment 3, Aset expressed dislike of the word as U.S.-constructed term
‘Latino’ erases his cultural ties to the Dominican Republic. He rejects the term ‘Latino’
while still connecting to his national identity. At the same time, he accepts the U.S.
constructed prefix, ‘Afro-‘ to signify African ideological significance. Although he does
not mention physiological characteristics that denote blackness, given the Dominican
Republic’s large African descendant populations it can be assumed that this commenter is
what Bonilla-Silva (2006) calls a dark-skinned Latino. Also in support of his Black
identity, he refers to Cocolo, a term of African origin that at times can even be used
within racial discriminatory contexts to mean “black, poor, and unrefined” such as in
Puerto Rico (Bonilla-Silva 2010; Jimenez-Roman and Flores 2010).
Yahira and Enid in subcomments 4 and 5, respectively, draw attention to the
diversity within AfroLatino/as. Here, Jahira references her daughter as AfroLatina, who
is both African American and Latina. Jahira describes herself as AfroLatina vis-à-vis her
connection with the Dominican Republic. Enid’s identity as an AfroLatina is filtered
through her hybrid Panamanian identity. Panamanians are known to have black West
Indian ancestry because of West Indian migration patterns at the turn of the 20th century
for the construction of the Panama Canal. She brings attention to this and her Latino/a
cultural components having been born and raised there. She is also one of the unique
21	
  

commenters in that her situational negotiation of identity was celebrated while others
expressed more social difficulty occupying multiple identities.
Adoption of the label ‘AfroLatino/a’ signified a number of combinations for this
group surrounding African associated components (e.g., culture, roots, history, hair
texture, and/or phenotype) and Latin America association by way of connections to
personal or familial countries of origin. While agency is important in self-identification,
external factors such as agents of socialization also contribute to identification and
racialization.
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION: PEER GROUPS, MEDIA, AND FAMILY
While skin color based categories for Latino/as are qualitatively different in the U.S. than
in many parts of Latin America, still darker Latino/as are likely to experience prejudice based on
racial markers such as phenotype and hair texture in addition to other prejudices targeted at the
Latino/a community. Bonilla-Silva (2010) cautions Latino/as of African descent that they will
likely be viewed as African Americans, not Latino/as, and will be treated accordingly,
emphasizing that those with ‘accents’ are susceptible to receive racial and ethnic discrimination.
Conversely, lighter or whiter Latino/as experience prejudice based on ethnicity and other
markers while experiencing privileges based on lighter skin color and/or other physical features
deemed desirable among Latino/as and society. Media and family aid understanding of these
differences and privileges, and reproduce ideologies adhered to in everyday life for example, in
messages received about suitable individuals to date. Commenters addressed Latino/a celebrities
who are acknowledged in the US and those in case 2 see skin color as being relevant to their
media coverage.

22	
  

Consistent with Golash-Boza’s work (2006), commenters challenged the somatic image
for Latino/as as being collectively mestizo/a, a result of the racialization of Latino/as in the U.S.
Golash-Boza explains that discrimination plays a role in how Latino/a groups will identify in the
U.S. In Case 2 shown in Table 4, commenters expressed frustration with associations of
blackness with particular groups and identity negotiation between Latino/a and AfricanAmerican peers.
TABLE 4: CASE 2 - CHALLENGES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF ‘LATINO/A’ AND
‘BLACK’
1. My friends, (regardless of race) they start to treat me with more respect once they discover my Latino root. I
always got the feeling that since I'm not African-American (they don't seem to understand the concept of AfroLatino), they thought that made me, more acceptable. My African-American friends distance themselves from me.
They'll make comments like, "you don't understand, you're not really black," or the one I hate the most, "it's a black
thing" ... I don't understand why SOME of our American brothers and sisters can't see that we've had it just as bad
and continue to do so because of all of the anti-immigration hype thats going on… Jomari Cuevas ( Case 2, Female,
Afro-Latina, Puerto Rican, Dominican)
2. I work at a youth organization who serves predominantly Black and Latino youth. I get the constant shock when I
speak Spanish, a sudden gained affection and charm from Latino members which makes sense if they feel they now
have something in common with me but what’s sad is the sudden treatment I get from our African American
members... now "suddenly" I don't understand their plight, suddenly my hair is different and my complexion has
changed. I'm like NO I am the same person I racial[ly] and physically resemble you, only difference is in our
language and cultural upbringing but I share the same discrimination even from my own. It’s hard to get that
concept across. But I can't blame them when many are confronted with Latino/as who deny any connection with
Africa even if its painted on their face and carried in their tradition - Tiffany Reyes (Case 2, Female, Self-identified
Black Latina, Dominican)

3. I have found myself disgusted at comments made about Blacks in my presence by Latino/as. When I
protest or tell them that that shit was uncalled for they get mad, . . . As a kid I remember being like ok
Black=African American and thats not me, not my culture, so they not referring to me but when comments
like ese pelo malo, or tan prieto/a that has shit to do with culture thats race and when I look in the mirror its
me they talking bout. Because physically I am Black . . . Luckily we're having this discussion and slowly
Afro-Latino stories are being told. It is def up to us to represent and make ourselves heard and educate not
only our peers but the future of 2moro... – Tiffany Reyes

23	
  

Table 4 (cont’d)
4. People like Tego [Calderon], Don Omar, Celia Cruz and Jonny Ventura are beautiful examples of
AfroLatino/as but they are only a token few. We as Latino/as are constantly bombarded by images of
beauty and Latinidad that never represent those mentioned above. Just look at the cover of any months
issue of Latina or People en Español or tune into channel 41 or 47. In general Caribeños are rarely
represented and when we are its a focus on the J-Lo's and Rosalyn or Ms. Universe or the Daddy Yankees.
Its like come on no wonder people who know nothing about us and use media as their sole source have no
idea that Latino/as come in Black. - Tiffany Reyes (Case 2, Female, Self-identified Black Latina,
Dominican)

5. Strengthen your academic and economic situations and then there will be no race that will be able to put us down.
Ensure you succeed 8 times better than those who despise you and then see how they will shut up and learn to
respect you. Finally be proud, stand tall declare that you will not be intimidated by small minded racists,the world
has over 6 billion people and African/black population is likely to be over 3 billion in the next 50 years so they will
have to get used to that. Maintain competitive birth rate to be the majority population. You can do it. – Henry Blake
(Case 2, Male, Self-Identified Race Undisclosed)

6. Henry, THINK! Do the Whites have to be "better educated" or have a high economic standing to be respected? –
Kenneth Gibson (Case 2, Male, Self-Identified Race Undisclosed)

Commenters negotiated situational insider-outsider group status and media based
representations based on one’s skin color, ethnic assertion, language use, and social cue. Jomari
explains that once her Latino/a peers realized she was also Latina, they no longer found race to
be salient to her identity. First, under the guise of mestizaje which is an ideology present in many
Latin American countries that reduces the significance of race in the name of national unity
(Bonilla-Silva 2006), she was viewed as more acceptable to Latino/a peers. Upon being
recognized as an insider, it was confirmed that trust could be extended (Jimenez-Roman and
Flores 2010; Mann-Hamilton 2010).
For Jomari, ‘African American’ simultaneously operates as American, a nationality
instead of a race. While this might be thought to be a distancing mechanism, the group is
subsequently referred to as ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters,’ terms of affection used within the African
diaspora and denoting unity. Third, Jomari articulates herself and other AfroLatino/as as
24	
  

experiencing struggles surrounding race and immigration, supporting her view that
AfroLatino/as qualify as a racialized other navigating multiple systemic forms of oppression.
In subcomment 2, Tiffany has had similar experiences as Jomari and engages in a
dialogue with her on these issues and therefore affirming Jomari’s comments. Tiffany was
empathetic to African Americans’ experiences with discrimination by other Latino/as. However,
once Tiffany asserts her identity as Latina, she says that some of her African American peers
dissociate her from blackness and therefore from the struggle of blackness. This situationally
positions her as a part of an in-group/out-group struggle despite similar racialized experiences.
Tiffany also references in subcomment 2 that she receives a ‘Latina pass’ once Latino/a
peers know realize that she is a Spanish-speaker. While ‘Latino/a passes’ are socially given to
those who fit the stereotypically mestizo/a mold, Tiffany as a Black Latina was not legitimated
as a Latina by her peers until she spoke Spanish, distinguishing her from African Americans. Her
legitimacy was illustrated through what she described as “sudden gained affection.” Conversely,
her sudden lost of affection from African Americans was noted once she asserted ethnic
components to her identity. She interprets this as African Americans being unaware of slavery’s
legacy in Latin American and the Caribbean. She was now seen as an outsider to the struggle that
often unites African Americans even though AfroLatino/a and African American histories are
related from her point of view. Among Latino/as, she was not ideologically understood as Latina,
though speaking Spanish did provide a common cultural tie. She attributes the ideological
shortfall as symptomatic of Latino/as’ denial of any African contributions to Latin America.
Tiffany continues her discussion of the peer group role in subcomment 3. She carried
very strong feelings about the discussion of blackness within her family, as well as

25	
  

among her peers, which is evident in this comment. Peers are also pivotal in
understanding notions of race. The messages Tiffany received about characteristics
denoting blackness such as bad hair (pelo malo) or being too dark (tan prieto/a) coincide
with media portrayals of mestizo/as or lighter skinned Latino/as who are associated with
standards of beauty. Bad hair typically refers to hair that is not ‘straight’ and has a much
finer, white European, hair texture.
While social privileges are awarded to lighter Latino/as, they are not as available for
darker Latino/as who may be identified as unattractive. For the commenter, because Black was
seen as African American within her family, an attempt was made to create social distance
between comments made about African Americans, but eventually she came to terms that these
same race-based insults could be applied to her because of shared physical similarities. Tiffany’s
example provides a detailed illustration of how the concepts of race and racialization are relevant
within the Latino/a community through interpretations of beauty and acceptable dating
preferences. Moreover, these interpretations shape individual understanding of oneself and
others.
At the end of this comment thread represented by subcomment 5, one individual
offered advice regarding how AfroLatino/as could overcome discrimination and gain
respect through traditional messages such as hard work and academic success, as well as
having a competitive birth rate. Just one group member contested this, subcomment 6, by
arguing that having to ensure individual or collective out-performance of the majority
will not structurally change their conditions or combat inequality given that, in his
interpretation, Whites do not have to earn respect in this way.

26	
  

While some may assume that AfroLatino/as either become African American or that they
completely reject association with a Black identity whether vis-à-vis African Americans or not,
members within the Black Latin@ Collective group did not express these sentiments. Instead,
members expressed a diverse set of experiences related to blackness, latinidad, and
afrolatinidad.

UNDERSTANDINGS OF RACE AND RACIAL CLASSIFICATIONS
In the group’s understanding of race and racial classifications, commenters contested the
former ‘one drop rule’ of hypodescent that aided the legal and social construction of race in the
U.S., presented in Case 4. Case 4 inhabited the largest number of comments (49) and
commenters (11). The initial post that shaped Case 4 listed 150 million7 African descendants by
country per population in Latin America and the Spanish Caribbean. The following commenters
debated the accuracy in measuring blackness and differing racial constructions within countries
as indicated by a selected portion of the comment thread in Case 4, Table 5:

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
7

According to Jimenez-Roman and Flores (2011), the population has increased to 180 million.
27	
  

TABLE 5: CASE 4 - AFRICAN-DESCENDENT POPULATIONS, ENUMERATION,
AND RACIALIZATION
1. I … think the numbers for Puerto Rico are down played. A lot of people in PR (or in the states for that matter)
claim everything other than Afro Rican.
-Monica Johnson (Female, Self-Identity Race Undisclosed)
2. True! Those numbers are downplayed and out dated...lol! In PR 84% of the population is listed as white. The
only reason why ppl put down white or anything other than black is because it is "good" or "better" for the
soul/mind and for social standing and for money. If you are listed as black the tougher life will be.8 - Jacob
Micheaux (Male, Self-Identity Race Undisclosed)
3. Interesting. Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana were left out. They are French speaking as well hence
LATIN. Latin American is a term coined by the French ppl … - Jacob Micheaux
4. Well without an arbitrary One Drop Rule, it is a difficult thing to measure. Especially given the
blanqueamiento in all its forms across the region. It's worth noting that Mexico doesn't even count Blacks in their
census. – Adrian Patilla (Male, Self-Identity Race Undisclosed)
5. The one drop rule was OUTLAWED in 1967. Therefore it has NO legal precedent or legal adhesion anymore.
I am not saying that the mentality of it still has an effect in terms of how people think in terms of race and
classification but either way in the USA it is a matter of if you are white or not white. – Jacob Michaeux

6. Panama latest census was a joke. Afro latinos were not counted because "race" and "blackness" are still tabous
[SIC] there. It is amazing how a country with soo much Afro influence in every aspect, has a hard time with
defining itself as having Afro heritage. – Enid Robinson (Female, Self-Identified AfroLatina, Panamanian)

7. So there were no race questions at all, or did they just exclude Negro as an option? – Adrian Patilla

8. Ok, here is a summary of how the census is conducted. The questionnaire had the following questions: "Does
anyone in this home consider him/herself black or of African descent? Yes, No
If you said yes, then answer the following: Do you consider yourself: Colonial black, Antillean (West Indian)
Black, Black- other , none9 - Enid Robinson

Within this conversation, there are several things occurring. The group is debating
	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
8

	
  In this comment, ‘lol’ is an electronic discourse acronym for ‘laugh out loud,’ indicating
humor. Likewise, ‘ppl’ is an abbreviation for people.
	
  
9
	
  Enid addresses the different Black groups that exist in Panama. Colonial Blacks are those that
have been in Panama since independence from Spain and Colombia. Antillean/West Indian
Blacks are those that migrated for mostly labor purposes in the late 19th century and early 20th
century.	
  
28	
  

how Blacks are conceptualized and enumerated domestically and in particularly
countries. Additionally, commenters affirm and contest each others’ positions, while
integrating concepts that construct race. Here, there is a critical discussion of identity that
references institutional (e.g., the Census) and historical means of racialization.
In subcomment 1, Monica expresses that the African-descendant population is
vastly undercounted in Puerto Rico and in subcomment 2 Jacob affirms this sentiment.
Mutual doubt of the Black population count is indicative these group members perceive
African-descendants in Latin America to be inadequately represented. Subsequently in
subcomments 4 and 5, Jacob and Adrian debate the contemporary applicability of the one
drop rule (Middleton 2008) and the role it has in racialization among AfroLatino/as.
Jacob does not appear to agree that the one drop rule determines blackness butAdrian
does. While, both agree that blackness in relevant in the discussion of AfroLatino/as, they
differ on how they perceive blackness to be constructed. In subcomments 6 though 8,
Enid engaged in one instance of information sharing within the comment thread. She
explained her country of origin, Panama, accounted for Black identity for the first time in
its 2010 census. Here is an example regarding knowledge of racialization from the U.S.
and abroad that inform opinions on Blackness within a transnational framework.
Overall, these findings suggest that race is increasingly relevant as it intersections with
other identities despite dominant discourse of a postracial U.S. society. First, AfroLatino/as used
dominant ideological understandings to negotiate racialization vis-à-vis Latino/as and AfricanAmericans. The evidence also suggested that agents of socialization reproduced dominant
ideologies at macro and micro levels. Consistent with the work included in The AfroLatino/a
Reader (Jimenez-Roman and Flores 2010), commenters challenged the Black-White dichotomy
29	
  

and racialization of U.S. Latino/as as one homogenous group. Finally, commenters discussed the
(in)appropriateness of adopting the label ‘AfroLatino/a.’

	
  

30	
  

CONCLUSION
While Latino/as are likely to view themselves in terms of national identity, the otherness
created as a consequence of racial ideologies and frameworks are salient markers that may
influence Latino/as of African-descent to also identify as Black in addition to Latino/a (Denton
and Massey 1989). Likewise, living within the U.S. paradigm of racialization, Latino/as may
also find solidarity with groups to which they are racially similar. In addition, racist encounters
may influence Latino/as of African-descent to connect with a racial identity, as well. Therefore,
it could be argued that as darker, African descendant Latino/as experience otherness among the
general Latino/a group, the concept of AfroLatino/a may become adopted more broadly.
Adopting a social black identity does not necessarily erase ethnic components.
AfroLatino/as may experience black rejection or reduction by African-Americans who are often
deemed ‘authentically’ Black, or the identity standard for who constitutes ‘Black’ in the U.S.
Negotiation of ethnic and racial identities is not a linear process. While not all Latino/as of
African-descent identify as ‘AfroLatino/a,’ this research reveals there is a growing number that
do.
Innovative forms of analysis and theoretical concepts can help better understand how
racial ideologies and frameworks are changing and being understood within contemporary
immigration processes and among People of Color trying to fit into the traditional US BlackWhite dichotomy. As this study is exploratory, findings are not yet generalizeable. However,
examining online discussions can serve as a barometer for the social issues and ideologies
gestating in society that may otherwise only be visible locally and offline. Engagement in social
networking sites has the ability to reveal much about identity, ideology, and experiences related
31	
  

to diasporic communities. An online group such as The Black-Latin@ Collective may also be a
safe space for African-descendant Latino/as to explore identification within ideas of blackness in
the U.S., something that may be considered taboo among family and peers offline. Further, it
allows an unobtrusive research method for understanding how identities are established in the
21st century.
Future research on AfroLatino/as needs to take into account gender differences between
men and women among other social categories. Building on the work of Cruz-Janzen (2001),
AfroLatinas, especially those women with darker skin and “apparent negroid features,” are often
seen as sexual partners but not as women worthy to be wives by partners or society (179).
AfroLatinas such as mulatas10 may be viewed as less socially acceptable for marriage but are
ranked higher socially than black AfroLatinas. Again, this speaks to the de facto system of
colorism within racialized communities. It would also be useful to examine codeswitching
between Spanish, Standard American English, and African American Vernacular English
(AAVE) among AfroLatino/as to understand how this impacts the perception of AfroLatino/as.
Among AfroLatino/as, there is diversity to consider such as different sets of socialization
and lived experiences across space, language use, proximity to other communities, nationality,
and accent. Increasingly, academia and different forms of media are capturing these varied
experiences. For example, The CNN web site points to a growing concern with AfroLatino/a
identity, something that other individuals and groups are also developing (Diaz 2012; Morales
2011; Ocana 2012).

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
   	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  
10
	
  Women who are mixed with African (Black) and Spaniard (White) ancestry.	
  
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In general, the diversity among U.S. Latino/as and Black communities lends itself to
examining how AfroLatino/as contribute to the discussion of race in the US. Disregarding the
social and structural significance of race silences much needed discussion on how racialization is
changing in the US. Moreover, disregarding the sociological implications of race silences the
communities most affected by racism and colorism. The discussion of race is not only relevant
for sociological inquiry, but to understand how and to whom resources and social privileges are
distributed and flow within networks. In efforts to contest current postracialism discourse, it is
important to emphasize that it is not that race is becoming unimportant. As the U.S. experiences
demographics shifts and new technological tools assist in raising visibility for social groups,
scholars must not dismiss the significance of race. Instead, they must embrace it and understand
how it is being (re)interpreted and (re)produced.

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