This is the second edition of Fact’s About African American Americans You May Not Know (Social and Economic Edition). Click here for the first one. The data is about African Americans and is from the U.S. Census and Nielson. The Census totals are the latest information from the 2012 American Community Data Survey. I this put together in response to African Americans who were incredibly misinformed about our status in America. We are an exceptional people who occupy every profession and industry. We have served our nation proudly as both civilians and veterans. We speak various languages and come from every corner of the globe. I hope this destroys stereotypes and gives you a clear view of who we are and where we are going. This is public data. This is your data. We may not see it or hear this on the news so I urge you to share it and get the word out. The only limit we have is the one we place on ourselves. We are amazing people so think and be limitless.
Highlights:
- Twenty-eight percent of African Americans are married.
- 60% of foreign born African Americans are from Latin America
- Over 8.3% of African Americans have served our nation and are veterans.
- 30% of African Americans ages 3 and up are enrolled in a post-secondary program.
- The number of African American business have tripled from 2002-2007.
- As of 2007, there were 1.9 million African American businesses and 37.6 % were in the in the health care and social assistance industries.
- African Americans 2013 buying power was $1 trillion.
As of 2012, there are 39,623,138 African Americans. African Americans account for 13% of the United States population.
| Gender | Percentage |
| Male | 47.7% |
| Female | 52.3% |
More than half of the Black population are Black women.
There are two million more Black women then Black men.
Median age for African Americans in the United States is 32.9 years old.
Approximately 26.6% (10.5 million) of the African American population is under 18 years old.
There are over 14 million African American households in the United States.
Over 62% of those households are families.
Of those families 27.4% are married.
|
Marital Status |
|||
| Population 15 years and over |
Total |
Male |
Female |
|
30,914,435 |
14,488,687 |
16,425,748 |
|
| Now married, except separated |
28.8% |
32.4% |
25.5% |
| Widowed |
5.8% |
2.5% |
8.6% |
| Divorced |
12.2% |
10.5% |
13.7% |
| Separated |
4.3% |
3.8% |
4.8% |
| Never married |
49.0% |
50.8% |
47.4% |
Approximately 49% of African Americans have never been married.
50.8% of African American men have never been married.
47.4% of all African American women have never been married.
|
School Enrollment |
||
| Enrollment | Male | Female |
| 3 years and over enrolled in school | 5,893,891 | 6,502,633 |
| Percent enrolled in kindergarten to grade 12 | 69.0% | 59.5% |
| Percent enrolled in college or graduate school | 24.5% | 34.9% |
There are over 12 million African Americans ages three and over enrolled in school. Of that total 30% are in college or graduate school.
|
Education Attainment |
|||
| Population 25 years and over | Total | Male | Female |
| High school graduate or higher | 83.2% | 81.8% | 84.4% |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher | 18.7% | 16.4% | 20.7% |
Of the population of age 25 and older, 18.7% of African Americans have a bachelors, graduate or a post graduate degree.
Over 33.1% of African Americans have some college education or an associate’s degree.
| Foreign Born African American Population Region | Percentage |
| Population born outside the United States |
3,477,342 |
| Europe |
1.8% |
| Asia |
0.7% |
| Africa |
36.7% |
| Oceania |
0.1% |
| Latin America |
60.2% |
| Northern America |
0.6% |
Over 3 million African Americans are foreign born.
Over 60% of foreign born African Americans are from Latin America.
Eight percent of African Americans age five and over speak a language other than English.
|
Occupation |
|||
| Occupations | Total | Male | Female |
| Civilian employed population 16 years and over |
15,518,116 |
7,059,566 |
8,458,550 |
| Management, business, science, and arts occupations |
28.1% |
22.6% |
32.6% |
| Service occupations |
25.7% |
22.8% |
28.1% |
| Sales and office occupations |
25.9% |
18.9% |
31.8% |
| Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations |
5.3% |
10.9% |
0.6% |
| Production, transportation, and material moving occupations |
15.0% |
24.7% |
6.9% |
Approximately 62% of African Americans over the age of 16 are in the workforce.
Twenty-eight percent of African Americans are in the management, business, science, and arts occupations.
Twenty-nine percent of African Americans are employed in the educational services, and health care and social assistance industries.
19% of African Americans are government employees.
|
Median family income (dollars) |
||||
| Families | Families | Married-couple family | Male householder, no spouse present, family | Female householder, no husband present, family |
| Median family income |
$40,946 |
$65,914 |
$33,860 |
$25,594 |
The median family income for African Americans is $40,946.
|
Poverty Rates for Families |
|
| All families | 24.2% |
| Married-couple family | 8.4% |
| Female householder, no husband present, family | 38.8% |
Over 28.1% of African Americans live in poverty.
Of that total 39.6% are children under 18 years old.
Of the African American families in poverty only 8.4% are married African American families
Source: 2012 American Community Survey – 1 Year Estimates
Survey of Business Owners
“From 2002 to 2007, the number of black-owned businesses increased by 60.5 percent to 1.9 million, more than triple the national rate of 18.0 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. Over the same period, receipts generated by black-owned businesses increased 55.1 percent to $137.5 billion.
- Of the 1.9 million black-owned businesses in 2007, 106,824 had paid employees, an increase of 13.0 percent from 2002. These businesses employed 921,032 people, an increase of 22.2 percent; their payrolls totaled $23.9 billion, an increase of 36.3 percent. Receipts from black-owned employer businesses totaled $98.9 billion, an increase of 50.2 percent from 2002.
- In 2007, 1.8 million black-owned businesses had no paid employees, an increase of 64.5 percent from 2002. These nonemployer businesses’ receipts totaled $38.6 billion, an increase of 69.0 percent.
- The number of black-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or more increased by 35.4 percent to 14,507 between 2002 and 2007.”
Source: Survey of Small Business Owners, 2007
According to Nielsen and the National Newspaper Publishers Association by 2017 African Americans will have a buying power of $1.3 trillion. African American’s 2013 buying power is $1 trillion. Read more at Nielsen.com.
If these FACTS don’t make the case for marriage, I don’t know what will:
“Of the African American families in poverty only 8.4% are married African American families”
Median family income (dollars): Married-couple family - $65,914 vs. Female householder, no husband present, family - $25,594
And finally from the Children’s Defense Fund: “Over 4 million Black children (40 percent) were poor in 2012, compared to 5.2 million White children (14 percent).”
I agree. It’s sad many do not see this.
Awesome that those statistics didn’t exclude Afro Latinos. Even though my parents are Cuban , they’re black, and I was born here, I’m African American by that definition. People tend to separate the two, including other Latinos, because too many reject their African ancestry due to white supremacy.
Searching your site, think you could write a post encouraging Afro Latinos and African Americans who don’t identify as Latino? Both sides are misinformed, and it would be a great topic to address 🙂
Libertad,
You are Afro Latino/Latina. That’s something to be proud of 🙂 but you are not African-American. Every black person born in the United States does not automatically become an African-American. In fact, most want nothing to do with us which is okay with me as far as me and my identity is concerned. African-Americans (African-American being the only legal term used by and for us that we created, not the government) descend from slaves brought to the United States not from recent immigrants. Your identity is something you must forge with your own Latino brethren but our identity is ours and it can not be compromised anymore.
Can I respectfully disagree with your statement? All blacks come from the same diaspora. We can choose to accept this or reject it, but I don’t think being Latino negates being African American. Who gets to choose who identifies with the term? A month ago, my friends and I (all black, however some weren’t Afro Latino) were told by someone Ghanaian that we weren’t really African American. That by his definition only African born individuals that move to the United States should be able to claim the term, because we weren’t African born like he was.
I’m going to be candid here. Many Latinos,especially immigrants don’t always have the educational backgrounds Americans do. And even if they are educated, they erase or omit all the contributions blacks have made to their countries.
Not to derive away from the beautiful message this blog sends, as it is to empower black women. But I think perhaps if people gained a better understanding for experiences, maybe your opinion might change.
If being born in the United States and being of African diaspora doesn’t make you African American, then what does? Who gets to choose?
I’m not sure if many will agree with me, but I hope people have an open mind. Trans-women. Does someone get to decide if they’re women? I definitely don’t think it’s within my power to say someone is not a woman just because they were born with different parts. So is being Afro Latino any different?
You’re definitely welcome to your opinion, and this is a good debate to have, to learn more about what similarities there are than differences.
Look forward to seeing a reply 🙂
I agree with ain’tdatdadtruf. I am African-American, which means that I am descended from black people who were enslaved in what is now the United States. I don’t consider anybody else an African American. You can be born and raised somewhere else and still be AA, if you have a parent from that background. It’s not just based on race, it’s a race connected to a nationality, with a certain history. You can’t really sever the two.
It doesn’t matter what the Ghanaian person said, or anyone else for that matter. Because they have absolutely no say in what we call ourselves. No say at all. Why would this person think they have the right to define something that they are not?
Guin. Tell me, if I moved to a country with black people, let’s say Haiti, would I automatically become Haitian just because I’m black too? No. I don’t get to choose, they do. And that’s okay. What if I rejected that saying “No, we all come from the same diaspora!” You see how that sounds? That’s really overstepping a boundary.
We all have our different, unique cultures, and there’s nothing wrong with learning about each other, it’s a great thing, something that I’m interested in. But I feel disrespected when people from outside of my ethnic group think that they can say “AA” just because they’re born/ live in America. Not that many people are trying to be with us though, since there’s no real benefit in being grouped with us.
So I’m going to respectfully disagree with you. 🙂
I see both points to the comments being made.So people don’t want me identifying myself as African American because by their definition I’m not American, even though i was born and raised here. I’m of African descent and I’m American,I don’t understand how someone like me is not African American.
Slavery wasn’t something that happened in the USA. It happened in most of Latin America. We have a shared history, the major difference being the culture of our conquerors. What sucks is that in Latin America they don’t teach kids about any of the blacks that contributed to their countries, so they grow up thinking to be something you have to be white or marry white. I don’t know how proud I would be being black and of African descent had I had grown up in where my grandparents are from so If I want to identify with being African American, I don’t think it’s anyone’s right to tell me that I can’t.
All my experiences have mirrored an African American experience. The way I’m treated when I step outside my door, the way I yearned to learn about the history of people who looked like me growing up, the way I have to hear from both sides I’m not enough of either; It’s like we can’t win.
When is it going to stop being the US vs Them argument between black women from around the globe. When the news released that 234 girls were abducted from their classrooms in Nigeria, I didn’t think oh well, that’s a Nigerian problem; All I could think about was all those young black women like you or me being taken away from their families and no one probably doing anything about it because they’re African and girls. And no one gives a hoot about the safety of black women, no matter where you’re from. What really sucks is to think that if either of our ancestors weren’t victims of slavery, those girls could have been our cousins, our neighbors, our classmates or even us.
When I was young watching Moesha(It was my favorite show at the time),All I could ever think about was here is this beautiful girl who looks like me…That has this weird name like I do…who loves her family like I do. I don’t think of myself as different than any black person, because in reality there is no such thing as Cuban blood, or American blood. Just like the comment about the Ghanian man who had to throw in his two cents on how a black person in the USA should identify themselves as, it’s not fair that someone else would do it with me.
It’s not even fair that the USA are the only ones that are considered American, even though there’s Central America and South American, when are we going to take off the veil that covers our eyes and see that white supremacy is the only thing that has separated people of African Ancestry over these past centuries. And the crappy thing about it is that white supremacy is so engrained in us that we believe to hate one another are our own thoughts and opinions. Maybe I’ll get a lot of haters on this comment but I’m trying to be true to myself and there is nothing more true than how identify myself.
Libertad. I really think you misunderstood me. I did not say that you’re not American. I said that you’re not African-American. Being and American of African descent does not make you African-American, because it’s an ethnic group with a specific *history*. Just like you’re Cuban-American and have a specific history. You cannot *want* to identify as AA because it’s not something that you can just pick and choose.
Yes, I know that slavery happened in other places, with the U.S. getting the least amount of slaves.
But the thing is, I think you think that being African-American has to do with race only- it doesn’t. African-American is not something that one can just identify with, it’s something that you just are, it’s not good or bad, or us v. them, it has to do with *history*, what a person is born into, and that’s all.
For me, it’s definitely not an “us vs.them” I love and care deeply about other black people around the world. I truly do, but I’m not going to pretend that slavery didn’t effect us. Now we have different experiences, histories, and cultures. That’s okay. The problem is that we somehow can’t get over this. We’re divided because of this, and I hate that. We can still care for each other while accepting our differences.
I do agree with your comment about how the USA are the only ones called American, not good. Maybe black people from the Americas can connect more and learn more about each other by realizing this? I would like that.
Great debate.
I wasn’t suggesting that if by moving to Haiti, you would automatically be accepted as Haitian. But your children would.
All this debate on whether Lupita N’Youngo(probably spelling this wrong) is actually Afro latina, somewhat reminds me of that. She is of Kenyan descent, And while she was raised all over(great life right), I consider her Afro latina because she was born there. Or perhaps her term mexi-Kenyan suits her.
Buy yea, being Afro Latino in the United States is very confusing. People think that because you’re latina , that you’re “Spanish” because it the language of the conquerors and because Latinos have adopted this as a universal term for Spanish speakers.
I’ve met many spaniards. People actually from Spain. They make it very clear anywhere that is not Spain, is not Spanish. So they erased out culture and then don’t want to claim the history they forced on us. And maybe white Latinos don’t have to deal with this hatred, but black Latinos do.
Not all black Latinas look like Gina Torres and Zoe Saldana. Long hair, monoethnic, just black enough. Not that I am questioning their blackness, but for an Afro latina like me, who isn’t that stereotype, I was mad as hell at Zoe Saldana for watering down Nina Simone as well. Nina Simone assured women who shouldn’t have had to be ashamed of their gorgeous non European features.
I’m american born so I have no right to judge countries I wasn’t born to, but in the places south of the border, it might as well be slavery. I know we don’t have it easy here either, but the things that I’ve read on this blog called “black women in brazil” are absolutely mortifying.
Black men go to brazil and the Dominican Republic because they think the black women are “better” but it shows how little the know these countries.
In brazil, there is a saying” white women for marriage, mulatta for sex, black women for work.” Mulatta they consider a black woman who is “pretty” because she can’t possibly be if she is not mixed race. They recently opened their doors for Cubans to come work in brazil, and got a lot of backlash in their media. Many of the Afro Cubans, who were doctors by the way, were ridiculed for looking like “maids.”
And this is completely ok behavior there!
Black men in all countries lean toward anything not black, so it’s funny how black men here are so clueless to what black women are going through in these countries.
I’m not Brazilian , so I know I’m sticking my nose in the dung here, but call me ignorant, for years I thought brazil was this post racial country. I cry everytime I read this blog.
Even other Latinas from foreign countries who move to brazil put themselves in danger living there. Latino culture is very far from equal.
I’m ranting 🙂 but only because the United States is the only place in the world that considers Latino it’s own race. Latino is not a race. Latino can be Asian, white, black, mixed, really whatever there is. It’s more of a term white folk created so Latinos way back when couldn’t consider themselves white.
Latinos can very benefit from white privilege as well, and do it without losing any sleep!
Guin. Maybe that was a bad example? Okay..so you consider Lupita Nyong’o to be afro-latina because she was born in Mexico? So for you, it’s only where you’re born, not history? Ok.
I almost forgot about that whole thing. Zoe Saldana looks nothing like Nina Simone, they made a mockery of her by casting Zoe like that. Didn’t she have to wear a prosthetic nose -______-
Yeah I read that blog too. As for the black men that go there for sex tourism, shame on them. It’s just as bad as if it were a white person doing it tbh. I read the article about the Cuban doctors too.
Well officially in the US Latino/Hispanic isn’t considered a race, that’s why they ask if you’re Hispanic first, then they ask what race. But of course in everyday life people consider it a race.
I’m not trying to suggest birthplace is the only factor. History plays a part, and it is a big part. Maybe the biggest. But birthplace is important. I wouldn’t consider lupita an honorary Latina, or a person who has lived there, adapted the culture or language but doesn’t claim it as their own(phylicia rashad is a perfect example of this. Her family lived in Mexico to avoid racism, yeah I know. Wrong place to be avoiding racism) and she speaks the language but doesn’t consider prefers her own history and the like.
I think birthplace is important, but especially for black Latinos. Mainly because black Latinos have to prove their status. And there’s always something white Latinos will throw in our face to say “oh, well that’s why, you’re not really the same thing.”
I wonder if blood is a factor to people? I haven’t taken one, but I’m pretty sure my blood test won’t be too much different than someone who identifies as a non Latino black American.
I wouldn’t say most, but a lot of people I encounter who question my heritage will follow it with a “oh I thought you were black” comment, which isn’t any race in particular. But mainly black men.
I usually don’t have an issue letting them know I’m still black , but some assume being Afro Latino means you have one black parent and one non black parent. It’s not untrue, but for a majority of cases, it’s just African descent in general especially if it’s dominant.
Definitely not trying to step on toes. I’m just respectfully disagreeing that being African American has no benefit.
It has a powerful benefit, it’s just often silenced, because people are afraid of it’s power.
Also I should mention, when you are American born, even if your parent is an immigrant, you tend to get shoved into the American category either way. My parents don’t consider me what they consider themselves, which I’m
Fine with. If I claimed their culture, I’m not right or wrong , but my culture is American and adding their country of origin wouldn’t make me that by nationality.
I guess I’ll just have to just consider myself a black American? Is that what you might suggest?
Guin. Blood, at the end of the day doesn’t matter in this context. I’ve read that even if you take two people of the same ethnicity, they can be more genetically different from each other compared to two people of differing ethnicities.
My point was history though.
Usually that Afro-latinos (and other blacks) I know are dying not to be called African American. I’ve seen this with my own eyes.
And I can tell you that LOT of AA do say “black” most of the time when they actually mean “AA”. So that’s probably what they meant. Our fault.
I’ve been thinking about your comments and I realize that I have no way to tell how someone with parents from somewhere else might feel about how they identify themselves.
What does it rest on more? 1.) If you’ve assimilated into that culture? or 2.) What you are by history? or 3.) Something else?
I’m really interested to know your thoughts please.
I naively assumed that people who have parents from somewhere else almost always retain at least a little from that culture, therefore making them different. I’ve never met someone who had immigrant parents who didn’t raise the child in at least a little bit of their culture. Which is what I guess threw me off.
My sister in law is an example of this. She can’t speak Spanish, but grew up in a Spanish speaking household surrounded by the culture. And she still considers herself Hispanic by her parent’s country of origin. Even thought she’s Americanized by culture.
You say your culture is American, but there is a specific “undercurrent” of American culture that is African American. Having the black American experience doesn’t necessarily make one AA. Like for example, the collective specific historical experiences that AA have might make us see the world one way, which might be different from other Americans, black or white. See what I’m trying to say here?
Maybe there something I’m missing.
You said that “adding their country of origin wouldn’t make me that by nationality” which makes me think that maybe you weren’t raised in their culture as much as American culture.
I would call you black American, yes.
If you really feel solidarity with AA then I welcome you, but I still think that there’s something specific about being AA.