Many larn most ancestors, U.South. Black history from family

A photo of a Black man in a dark blue suit and blue and white checkered button up underneath looking at reflection of himself on a building. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
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Pew Research Eye conducted this assay to understand the rich diversity of Black people in the United States and their views of Black identity. This in-depth, robust survey explores differences among Black Americans in views of identity such every bit between U.South.-born Black people and Blackness immigrants; Black people living in different regions of the country; and between Black people of dissimilar ethnicities, party affiliations, ages and income levels. The analysis is the latest in the Center's series of in-depth surveys of public opinion among Black Americans (read the first, "Faith Among Blackness Americans").

The online survey of 3,912 Black U.S. adults was conducted Oct. 4-17, 2021. The survey includes 1,025 Black adults on Pew Research Heart'south American Trends Panel (ATP) and 2,887 Blackness adults on Ipsos' KnowledgePanel. Respondents on both panels are recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses.

Recruiting panelists by telephone or mail ensures that nearly all U.Southward. Black adults accept a take chances of choice. This gives us confidence that any sample can represent the whole population (see our Methods 101 explainer on random sampling). Here are the questions used for the survey of Blackness adults, forth with its responses and methodology.

The terms "Black Americans", "Black people" and "Blackness adults" are used interchangeably throughout this written report to refer to U.South. adults who cocky-place as Black, either alone or in combination with other races or Hispanic identity.

Throughout this report, "Black, not-Hispanic" respondents are those who identify equally single-race Black and say they accept no Hispanic groundwork. "Black Hispanic" respondents are those who identify as Black and say they have Hispanic background. We use the terms "Black Hispanic" and "Hispanic Black" interchangeably. "Multiracial" respondents are those who signal two or more than racial backgrounds (1 of which is Black) and say they are not Hispanic.

Respondents were asked a question about how of import being Black was to how they think about themselves. In this study, we employ the terms "existence Blackness" and "Blackness" interchangeably when referencing responses to this question.

In this written report, "immigrant" refers to people who were not U.S. citizens at birth – in other words, those born exterior the U.S., Puerto Rico or other U.South. territories to parents who were not U.S. citizens. We utilise the terms "immigrant" and "foreign-built-in" interchangeably.

Throughout this report, "Democrat and Democratic leaners" refers to respondents who say in they identify politically with the Democratic Party or are independent but lean toward the Autonomous Party. "Republican and Republican leaners" refers to respondents who identify politically with the Republican Party or are independent only lean toward the Republican Party.

To create the upper-, eye- and lower-income tiers, respondents' 2020 family incomes were adapted for differences in purchasing ability by geographic region and household size. Respondents were then placed into income tiers: "Middle income" is divers as two-thirds to double the median annual income for the entire survey sample. "Lower income" falls below that range, and "upper income" lies in a higher place information technology. For more data about how the income tiers were created, read the methodology.

No matter where they are from, who they are, their economic circumstances or educational backgrounds, pregnant majorities of Black Americans say beingness Black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves, with about 3-quarters (76%) overall saying and so.

Pie chart showing most Black adults say being Black is very important to how they see themselves

A significant share of Black Americans also say that when something happens to Black people in their local communities, across the nation or around the globe, it affects what happens in their own lives, highlighting a sense of connectedness. Black Americans say this fifty-fifty equally they have diverse experiences and come from an array of backgrounds.

Nevertheless, Black adults who say being Black is important to their sense of cocky are more likely than other Blackness adults to feel connected to other groups of Black people. They are also more likely to feel that what happens to Black people inside and outside the Us affects what happens in their ain lives. These findings sally from an extensive new survey of Black U.S. adults conducted by Pew Research Center.

A majority of non-Hispanic Black Americans (78%) say existence Black is very or extremely of import to how they retrieve about themselves. This racial group is the largest amongst Black adults, accounting for 87% of the adult population, co-ordinate to 2019 Census Agency estimates. Merely among other Black Americans, roughly six-in-x multiracial (57%) and Hispanic (58%) Blackness adults say this.

Black Americans also differ in primal ways in their views well-nigh the importance of being Black to personal identity. While majorities of all age groups of Black people say being Black shapes how they think almost themselves, younger Black Americans are less likely to say this – Black adults ages 50 and older are more than probable than Black adults ages 18 to 29 to say that beingness Black is very or extremely of import to how they call up of themselves. Specifically, 76% of Blackness adults ages thirty to 49, eighty% of those l to 64 and 83% of those 65 and older hold this view, while but 63% of those under 30 do.

Chart showing non-Hispanic Black adults most likely to say being Black is extremely or very important to how they see themselves

Black adults who identify with or lean toward the Autonomous Party are more likely than those who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party to say being Black is important to how they encounter themselves – 86% vs. 58%. And Black women (fourscore%) are more likely than Black men (72%) to say existence Blackness is important to how they see themselves.

Still, some subgroups of Black Americans are about as likely as others to say that being Black is very or extremely important to how they recollect nearly themselves. For instance, U.S.-built-in and immigrant Black adults are about as likely to say beingness Black is important to how they see their identity. All the same, not all Black Americans feel the same about the importance of being Black to their identity – xiv% say it is only somewhat important to how they see themselves while 9% say it has little or no affect on their personal identity, reflecting the multifariousness of views about identity amid Blackness Americans.

Bar chart showing that about half of Black adults say their fates are strongly linked with other Black people in the U.S.

Beyond the personal importance of Blackness – that is, the importance of existence Black to personal identity – many Black Americans feel connected to each other. Well-nigh five-in-ten (52%) say everything or well-nigh things that happen to Black people in the United States affect what happens in their own lives, with another 30% saying some things that happen nationally to Black people have a personal impact. And 43% say all or most things that happen to Black people in their local customs touch on what happens in their own lives, while another 35% say but some things in their lives are affected by these events. About 4-in-10 Black adults in the U.S. (41%) say they experience their fates are strongly linked to Black people around the world, with 36% indicating that some things that happen to Black people around the world affect what happens in their ain lives.

The survey also asked respondents how much they have in mutual with different groups of Black Americans. Some 17% of Blackness adults say they have everything or most things in common with Black people who are immigrants. Just this sense of commonality differs sharply past nativity: 14% of U.S.-built-in Black adults say they have everything or most things in common with Black immigrants, while 43% of Black immigrants say the aforementioned. Conversely, simply about one-in-four Black immigrants (26%) say they have everything or most things in common with U.Southward.-born Black people, a share that rises to 56% among U.South.-born Black people themselves.

About ane-third of Black Americans (34%) say they have everything or most things in common with Blackness people who are poor, though smaller shares say the aforementioned about Blackness people who are wealthy (12%). Relatively few Blackness Americans (14%) say they have everything or most things in mutual with Black people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ). However, a larger share of Black Americans (25%) say they have at least some things in common with Black people who identify as LGBTQ. All these findings highlight the diversity of the U.S. Blackness population and how much Blackness people experience connected to each other.

These are amid the primal findings from a recent Pew Research Center survey of 3,912 Blackness Americans conducted online Oct. 4-17, 2021. This report is the latest in a serial of Pew Research Center studies focused on describing the rich diversity of Blackness people in the The states.

The nation'due south Black population stood at 47 one thousand thousand in 2020, making up 14% of the U.South. population – upwardly from xiii% in 2000. While the vast majority of Black Americans say their racial background is Black alone (88% in 2020), growing numbers are as well multiracial or Hispanic. Most were built-in in the U.S. and trace their roots back several generations in the country, but a growing share are immigrants (12%) or the U.S.-born children of immigrant parents (ix%). Geographically, while 56% of Black Americans live in the nation's S, the national Black population has also dispersed widely across the country.

Information technology is this diversity – amongst U.Southward.-born Black people and Black immigrants; betwixt Black people who live in dissimilar regions; and across different ethnicities, political party affiliations, ages and income levels – that this report explores. The survey also provides a robust opportunity to examine the importance of race to Black Americans' sense of cocky and their connections to other Black people.

The importance of beingness Blackness for connections with other Black people

Bar chart showing Black Americans who say being Black is important to them are more likely to feel connected to other Black people

The importance of being Black to personal identity is a meaning factor in how continued Black Americans feel toward each other. Those who say that being Black is a very or extremely important part of their personal identity are more than likely than those for whom Black is relatively less of import to express a sense of common fate with Blackness people in their local communities (50% vs. 17%), in the United States overall (62% vs. 21%), and even around the globe (48% vs. xviii%).

They are likewise more likely to say that they have everything or virtually things in mutual with Blackness people who are poor (37% vs. 23%) and Black immigrants (19% vs. ix%). Even and so, fewer than half of Black Americans, no affair how important Blackness is to their personal identity, say they have everything or most things in common with Black people who are poor, immigrants or LGBTQ.

The importance of Blackness for knowing family history and U.S. Black history

The new survey also explores Blackness Americans' knowledge most their family unit histories and the history of Black people in the United states, with the importance of Blackness linked to greater noesis.

Bar chart showing Black adults who say being Black is important to them are more likely to learn about their ancestors from relatives

Nearly vi-in-ten Black adults (57%) say their ancestors were enslaved either in the U.S. or some other country, with near all who say so (52% of the Black adults surveyed) maxim information technology was in the U.South., either in whole or in part. Black adults who say that being Black is a very or extremely important part of how they see themselves (61%) are more than likely than those for whom being Blackness is less important (45%) to say that their ancestors were enslaved. In fact, Black adults for whom Black is very or extremely important (31%) are less probable than their counterparts (42%) to say that they are non sure if their ancestors were enslaved at all.

When information technology comes to learning more about their family histories, Black adults for whom Black is very or extremely important (81%) are more likely than those for whom Black is less important (59%) to have spoken to their relatives. They are well-nigh equally likely to have researched their family's history online (36% and 30%, respectively) and to accept used a mail-in DNA service such as AncestryDNA or 23andMe (15% and 16%) to learn more than about their beginnings.

The importance of Blackness as well figures prominently into how informed Blackness Americans feel most U.Southward. Black history. Blackness adults who say Blackness is a significant part of their personal identity are more than probable than those for whom Blackness is less of import to say that they feel very or extremely informed about U.S. Black history (57% vs. 29%). Overall, about half of Blackness Americans say they feel very or extremely informed well-nigh the history of Black people in the United states.

Among Black adults who experience at least a little informed about U.S. Black history, the sources of their knowledge too differ past the importance of Blackness to personal identity. Nearly half of Black adults for whom Blackness is very or extremely important (48%) say they learned about Black history from their families and friends, making them more likely to say then than Black adults for whom Blackness is less important (30%). Similarly, those who say being Black is of import to their identity are more likely than those who did not say this to accept learned about Black history from nearly every source they were asked near, be it media (33% vs. 22%), the internet (30% vs. 18%) or higher, if they attended (26% vs. 14%). The only source for which both groups were about as likely to say they learned about Black history was their K-12 schools (24% and 21%, respectively).

Overall, among Black Americans who experience at least a little informed about U.Due south. Blackness history, 43% say they learned almost it from their relatives and friends, xxx% say they learned about it from the media, 27% from the net, and 24% from college (if they attended) and 23% from 1000-12 school.

Younger Black people are less probable to speak to relatives about ancestors

Black adults under 30 years onetime differ significantly from older Black adults in their views on the importance of Blackness to their personal identity. However, Black adults also differ by age in how they pursue knowledge of family history, how informed they feel most U.Southward. Blackness history, and their sense of connectedness to other Blackness people.

Chart showing younger Black adults less likely than their elders to feel informed about U.S. Black history

Blackness adults under 30 (50%) are less probable than those 65 and older (64%) to say their ancestors were enslaved. In fact, 40% of Blackness adults under xxx say that they are not sure whether their ancestors were enslaved. Black adults in the youngest age group (59%) are less probable than the oldest (87%) to have spoken to their relatives well-nigh family history or to accept used a mail-in DNA service to learn most their ancestors (xi% vs. 21%). They are only slightly less likely to have conducted research on their families online (26% vs. 39%).

Blackness adults under 30 accept the lowest share who say they feel very or extremely informed about the history of Blackness people in the Us (40%), compared with 60% of Black adults 65 and older and most half each of Black adults 50 to 64 (53%) and 30 to 49 (51%). In fact, Black adults under thirty are more likely than those 50 and older to say they experience a little or not at all informed about Black history. While Blackness adults are generally nearly likely to cite family and friends as their source for learning about Blackness history, the share under 30 (38%) who besides cite the net as a source of information is higher than the shares ages 50 to 64 (22%) and 65 and older (14%) who say this.

These historic period differences persist in the sense of connectedness that Black Americans have with other Black people. Black adults under xxx are less likely than those 65 and older to say that everything or virtually things that happen to Blackness people in the United States will affect their own lives. This youngest group is also less probable than the oldest to accept this sense of common fate with Black people in their local community. 1 exception to this pattern occurs when Blackness adults were asked how much they had in common with Blackness people who identify as LGBTQ. Black adults under 30 (21%) were considerably more likely than those 65 and older (10%) to say they take everything or nearly things in common with Blackness people who identify as LGBTQ.

Black Americans differ by party on measures of identity and connectedness

Black Democrats and Republicans differ on how of import Blackness is to their personal identities. However, at that place are also partisan gaps when it comes to their connection to other Blackness people.1

Bar chart showing Black Democrats more likely than Republicans to say what happens to other Black people in the U.S. will affect their own lives

Blackness Democrats and those who lean to the Democratic Party are more than probable than Black Republicans and Republican leaners to say that everything or most things that happen to Blackness people in the United States (57% vs. 39%) and their local communities (46% vs. 30%) impact what happens in their ain lives. However, Blackness Republicans (24%) are more likely than Blackness Democrats (fourteen%) to say that they have everything or most things in common with Black people who are LGBTQ. They are besides more probable than Black Democrats to say they accept everything or about things in common with Blackness people who are wealthy (25% vs. xi%).

When it comes to noesis of family and racial histories, Blackness Democrats and Republicans do not differ. Democrats (59%) are just as likely as Republicans (54%) to know that their ancestors were enslaved. Nearly lxxx% of Black adults from both partisan coalitions say they have spoken to their relatives well-nigh their family history. Similar shares have also researched their family histories online and used mail-in DNA services.

Black Democrats are as well non significantly more likely than Black Republicans to say they feel very or extremely informed virtually U.S. Black history (53% vs. 45%). And among those who feel at least a little informed about U.S. Blackness history, Democrats and Republicans are about equally probable to say they learned it from family and friends (45% vs. 38%).

Place is a fundamental function of Blackness Americans' personal identities

The majority of Black adults who live in the Us were born there, only an increasing portion of the population is comprised of immigrants. Of those immigrants, nigh 90% were built-in in the Caribbean or Africa. Regardless of their region of birth, 58% of Black adults say the country they were built-in in is very or extremely important to how they remember about themselves. A smaller share say the aforementioned nearly the places where they grew up (46%).

Bar chart showing half of Black adults say where they currently live is an important part of their identity

Blackness adults also feel strongly about their electric current communities. About half of Blackness adults (52%) say that where they currently live is very or extremely important to how they recall well-nigh themselves. And when it comes to the quality of their neighborhoods, 76% of Blackness adults rate them as at least good places to live, including 41% who say the quality of their community is very good or excellent.

Still, Black adults say there are concerning bug in the communities they live in. When asked in an open up-ended question to list the issue that was most important in their neighborhoods, virtually one-in-five Blackness adults listed issues related to violence or crime (17%). Smaller shares listed other points of business organisation such every bit economic issues like poverty and homelessness (11%), housing (vii%), COVID-xix and public health (6%), or infrastructure problems such as the availability of public transportation and the conditions of roads (5%).

While nearly one-in-5 Black Americans (17%) say that individual people similar themselves should be responsible for solving these problems, they are nigh likely to say that local community leaders should accost these issues (48%). Smaller shares say the U.S. Congress (12%), the U.S. president (viii%) or civil rights organizations (two%) bear responsibility.