20.1 million African Americans will be online by 2007, eMarketer projects

There will be 20.1 million African Americans, or 51.9% of the African American population, online by 2007, according to new research from eMarketer. Currently, there are about 18.4 million, or 48.7%, of the African American population, online.

EMarketer based its calculations on 2003 U.S. Department of Commerce figures showing that 45.6% of blacks ages 3 and older were Internet users.

African Americans currently make up 10.5% of the online population, nearly as many as the number of teens online (18.8 million) in the U.S., according to eMarketer. In comparison, whites account for 75.2% of the online population, Hispanics for 9.1% and Asians for 5.3%.

By 2007, African Americans will account for 10.9% of online users, while whites will account for 74.3%, Hispanics for 9.8%, and Asians for 5.8%, eMarketer said.

The gap between African Americans and whites online will diminish over the next decade as growth in online use among whites levels off and the black online population continues to grow, eMarketer said.