Digital Divide: Declines According to a new Pew survey 74% of adult whites in the U.S. go online, vs. 61 % of blacks and 80% of English-speaking Hispanics. In a similar ’98 survey, just 42% of white adults used the Internet while only 23% of Blacks and 40% of English-speaking Hispanics did. (NY Times 3/31/06)