Pew: White-Native American adults largest multiracial group

WASHINGTON (AP) – A new study says non-Hispanic whites with American Indian ancestry make up a full half of the current population of mixed-race Americans.

The Pew Research Center report says 50 percent of the multiracial adults in the United States have non-Hispanic white and American Indian ancestry. However, researchers also say that this population is also the least likely to consider themselves “multiracial.”

Black and American Indian adults make up 12 percent of the multiracial population, while those with a white and black background make up 11 percent.

Pew looked at how people self-reported their race or races to the Census Bureau in the study. Then they looked at racial backgrounds of parents and grandparents.

With those numbers, Pew says almost 7 percent of the population is of mixed race.