By Charles K. Harris
According to the 2020 census, some 43 million U.S. residents identified as ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latino’ which accounts for about 18.7% of the total U.S. population. Making them the largest minority group in the country.
Hispanic can refer to anyone with origins in a Spanish speaking country. However, Latino refers specifically to someone with roots in Latin America, the Caribbean, Central or South America. Afro-Latino refers to someone who has both Sub-Saharan African and Latin American ancestry.
However, determining who belongs to this group is rather complicated. The term ‘Afro-Latino’ is seldom used outside the United States. Descriptors based on race, color and ethnicity vary greatly across Latin America. Additionally, long standing prejudices about skin color are rampant in many of these same countries.
Despite the absence of a white majority in most Latin American countries for over a century, many still subscribe to the notion that dark skin, African features and kinky hair are unattractive and undesirable. While geneticists estimate the majority of Latin America’s approximately 6.7 million residents have at least some African ancestry, many refuse to be identified as such.
Still, the footprint left by African slaves, predominantly from West Africa, is apparent in the customs, foods, music and religion across the area. A staggering 95% of all Africans transported during the Atlantic Slave Trade were placed in labor in Latin, Central and South America.
Specifying one’s ethnic background often becomes even more muddied once entered into the antiquated and patently racist color hierarchy in the US.
“People would ask, “What are you?” or act confused when I said I was Latino but didn’t look or sound how they expected,” said Hiram Montalvo, the son of Dominican and Puerto Rican immigrants. “I didn’t match the traditional American categories of Black or white. It was hard feeling like I didn’t fully fit into any one group.”
Charlotte District 5 Councilwoman Majorie Molina, who was married to a Latino man and is the mother of two Afro-Latino children, has worked to embrace and promote the culture over years.
“I can only speak from the periphery here. I’ve observed how invisibility often becomes the most significant challenge,” said Molina. “The U.S. framework tends to flatten Latino identity into a single category. Many Afro-Latinos contend with erasure both within broader Latino communities and within Black spaces.
Emily Flores, whose parents originate from the Garifuna (an ethnic group composed of people descending from Africans and indigenous native) community in Honduras, faced similar challenges.
“Fitting in as children is a challenge. Black kids see you as different. Latino kids see you as different. This leads to children rejecting their culture to conform and be accepted,” Flores said.
Garifuna are an ethnic group descended from West Africans and Arawak Indians that originally populated the island of Saint Vincent but eventually spread to several nearby countries. Flores, a Senior Benefits Analyst at Honeywell, explained that her own experience influenced her choice to instill great cultural appreciation in her own children.
“It was important for me to teach them about their Garifuna side and take them to Honduras as often as I could. This resulted in them being pretty self-assured in school,” she said. “And they’ve embraced their Garifuna roots.”
Montalvo, a senior Business Analytics Consultant in the finance industry and a father of two, said, like Flores, he’s committed to preserving their heritage. “[My childhood] experience taught me to appreciate the richness of my culture while showing me the necessity of maintaining cultural connections,” he said.
The struggle for a place continues beyond the schoolyard, however.
“Straddling two societies and never fitting 100% in either (is a challenge),” said Sharon Yakubu, who is from Panama and has lived in Charlotte for 20 years. Yakubu, an agent with Equity NC Real Estate and owner of ZAKTRA, a nonemergency medical transport company, addresses a significant challenge facing Afro-Latino representation.
“I have not found a specific group for Afro-Latino business owners, and in Hispanic spaces, I don’t notice a sizable representation of Afro-Latino entrepreneurs,” she said.
Montvalo agreed. “Afro-Latinos face significant underrepresentation when it comes to leadership roles in business organizations. The community faces additional work to achieve full inclusion and representation throughout all sectors of society despite increasing advocacy efforts,” he said.
Flores echoed the same sentiment. When asked if she felt Charlotte area Afro-Latinos received appropriate representation across civic, political and business sectors, her answer was blunt: “Definitely not!”
A Forbes Magazine article from last year reported that more than 5 million of U.S. small business owners in 2023 identified as Latino. Combined, these same businesses generated $800 billion in revenue that same year.
“The entrepreneurial spirit is a driving force for immigrants,” said Yakuba. This indicates that if the Latino population progression is correct, in just over a decade Latino business owners and Latino consumers will make an indelible mark on the US economy.
But the value of the Afro-Latino community goes beyond dollars and cents. “My background is a mix and that’s what makes it special,” Montvalo said. “Being in-between cultures is a strength.”
“Their stories reveal the complexity of heritage, migration, color and culture,” said Charlotte City Council representative Marjorie Molina. “That complexity, if respected, becomes a gift to the civic and cultural life of this city.”