Behind the Numbers: Race and Ethnicity in Latin America BY JUDITH A. MORRISON FROM ISSUE: TRADE IS BACK!, SUMMER 2015 Understanding the needs of Afro-descendant and Indigenous peoples starts with asking the right questions.  Movement of the people: Protesting police violence in Brazil. Photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters 1.3K143 Share Lines Quality data helps governments address the impact of exclusion on societies as a whole Throughout Latin America, race and ethnicity continue to be among the most important determinants of access to opportunity and economic advancement. Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples in Latin America represent 40 percent of the total population—a sizeable share—yet they remain a disproportionate segment of the poorest of the poor. While a priority for social inclusion measures, they have not seen the sharp reductions in poverty experienced by the overall population and are still more likely than the general population to live in extreme poverty. In countries