A new study out from Pew today finds that broadband adoption amongst African-Americans grew at a tremendous rate over the past year. According to the study, 56 percent of African-Americans now have broadband in the home, up from 46 percent last year. Its the first time more than 50 percent of all African-Americans have had both majorities rates of high-speed Internet access and adoption.

Even more impressive is the significant growth came at a time when overall broadband adoption rose at a slower two percent for all American adults during the same period, primarily because of the challenging economy. From USA Today:

"There are a variety of reasons why African-Americans are bucking the trend, starting with the notion that the group was starting out from a smaller base of users. But Pew's Senior Research Specialist Aaron Smith, the author of the report, also thinks African- Americans are now more likely to own cellphones, use the mobile Web and social media apps, and that Internet providers themselves may be more aggressive in targeting populations with historically lower adoption rates."

In addition, the Pew research found that a majority of Americans favor the current state of a light regulatory touch when it comes to broadband deployment and adoption. From the study:

"By a 53%-41% margin, Americans say they do not believe that the spread of affordable broadband should be a major government priority. Contrary to what some might suspect, non-internet users are less likely than current users to say the government should place a high priority on the spread of high-speed connections."

Read more about the study here.