For Black Americans, family and friends are a primary source of information on U.S. Black history (2024)

Nearly nine-in-ten Black Americans say they are at least somewhat informed about the history of Black people in the United States, with family and friends being the single largest source of information about it, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey of Black adults.

The achievements of Black Americans are recognized every February during Black History Month, which traces its roots to an exhibition commemorating their emancipation from slavery.

About half of Black Americans (51%) say they are very or extremely informed about the history of Black people in the U.S. Nearly four-in-ten (37%) say they are somewhat informed, while 11% say they are a little or not at all informed.

Among Black adults who identify as Black alone, 51% say they are very or extremely informed about U.S. Black history. An identical share of multiracial (51%) adults say the same. About half of U.S.-born Black adults (51%) and Black immigrants (50%) also say they are very or extremely informed about U.S. Black history.

There are notable differences among Black adults in how well informed they say they are when it comes to U.S. Black history. Black adults who say being Black is highly important to their identity are almost twice as likely as those who say being Black is less important (57% vs. 29%) to say they are very or extremely informed about the history of Black people in the U.S.

In addition, Black adults ages 30 and older are more likely than those under 30 to say that they are very or extremely informed.

Black Americans who know at least a little about U.S. Black history say they learned about it in many different ways. The most common way is from family and friends, with 43% saying they learned everything or most of what they know about Black history from those close to them. (See detailed tables below for more on how subgroups of Black Americans rate their knowledge of Black history and where they learned about it.)

Smaller shares say they learned about U.S. Black history from the media (30%), the internet (27%) and K-12 schools (23%). For those with at least an associate degree, 24% say they learned about U.S. Black history from higher education.

Views of one’s own racial identity can influence how Black Americans learn about U.S. Black history. The share of Black Americans who say they learned this history from family and friends reaches 48% among those who say being Black is a very or extremely important part of their identity, compared with just 30% among those who say being Black is less important to their identity. Black Americans who say being Black is an important part of their identity are also more likely to have learned about Black history from the media (33% vs. 22% who say being Black is less important to them), internet (30% vs. 18%) and higher education (26% vs. 14%), for those with at least an associate degree.

Black adults under age 30 (38%) and ages 30 to 49 (31%) are more likely than those 50 to 64 (22%) and 65 and older (14%) to say they learned everything or most things they know about Black history from the internet. Black adults under 30 (31%) and ages 30 to 49 (25%) also are more likely than those 50 to 64 (20%) and 65 and older (17%) to say they learned all or most of what they know about their history from K-12 schools.

Non-Hispanic Black adults (45%) are more likely than Black multiracial adults (32%) to say they learned everything or most things they know about Black history from their family and friends. While U.S.-born Black adults (44%) and Black immigrants (36%) are similarly likely to rely on family and friends as sources, Black immigrants are more likely than U.S.-born Black adults to have learned about Black history from the media (45% vs. 29%) and the internet (40% vs. 26%).

Note: Here are the questions used for the survey of Black adults, along with responses, and its methodology.