Current Demographics
As of the 2010 Census, 75.8% call themselves white, 12.4% are black, 0.5% Amerindian, 0.2% Asian, and 11.1% are mixed or other. Although only 12.4 consider themselves black, most sources estimate that about 46% of Puerto Ricans have African ancestry, though estimates vary greatly. The vast majority of blacks in Puerto Rico are Afro-Puerto Rican, meaning they have been in Puerto Rico for generations, usually since the slave trade, forming an important part of Puerto Rican culture and society. Newly arrived black immigrants have been coming to Puerto Rico, mainly from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and many other Latin American and Caribbean countries, and to a lesser extant directly from Africa as well, and also there many black migrants from the United States and the Virgin Islands who settle in Puerto Rico. Also, many Afro-Puerto Ricans have migrated out of Puerto Rico, namely to the United States, where they make up the bulk of the U.S. Afro-Latino population, as well as the Virgin Islands.
Puerto Rico had laws like the Regla del Sacar or Gracias al Sacar where a person of black ancestry could be considered legally white so long as they could prove that at least one person per generation in the last four generations had also been legally white. Therefore people of black ancestry with known white lineage were classified as white, the opposite of the "one-drop rule" in the United States.
Puerto Ricans are of Black African, American Indian, and European ancestry, yet only identify themselves as mixed if having parents "appearing" to be of separate "races". It should also be noted that Puerto Rico underwent a "whitening" process while under U.S. rule. The census-takers at the turn of the 20th Century recorded a huge disparity in the number of "black" and "white" Puerto Ricans between the 1910 and 1920 censuses. "Black" suddenly began to disappear from one census to another (within 10 years' time), possibly due to redefinition of the term. It also appears that the "black" element within the culture was simply disappearing possibly due to the popular idea that in the U.S. one could only advance economically and socially if one were to pass for "white". Puerto Rico is now experiencing a resurgence in black affiliation, mainly due to famous Afro-Puerto Ricans promoting black pride among the Puerto Rican community, as well as Afro-Puerto Rican youth learning their actual history due to school history books based entirely on Afro-Puerto Rican history.
The following lists only include people who self-identify as black and not everyone with African ancestry. The municipalities with the largest black populations, as of the 2010 census, were:
- San Juan: 73,538
- Carolína: 40,310
- Bayamón: 21,373
- Loíza: 19,314
- Poñce: 14,896
The municipalities with the highest percentages of black people, as of 2010, were:
- Loíza: 64.3%
- Arroyo: 32.5%
- Maunabo: 30.4%
- Víeques: 28.1%
- Culebra: 26.6%
- Río Grande: 24.6%
- Carolína 22.8%
- Canóvanas: 21.6%
- Luquillo: 20.8%
- Patillas: 19.9%
Read more about this topic: African Immigration To Puerto Rico
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