Introduction: Racial differences in the prevalence of coronary artery calcification (CAC) are well documented. African Americans (AA) tend to have a lower prevalence of CAC despite greater coronary risk factors and according to some reports higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality Hypothesis: We hypothesize despite a lower prevalence of CAC; AA would have similar or higher burden of non-calcified plaque (NCP). Methods: We retrospectively evaluated data from 4280 (3886 whites and 482 AA) consecutive patients, who underwent non-contrast and contrast cardiac computed tomography at our center. We used the 17-segment American Heart Association classification for assessment of coronary arteries. We quantified the amount of plaque in each segment as mild (score of 1), moderate (score of 2), or severe (score of 3) using a previously described method. We calculated total plaque score (TPS) by summation of the amount of plaque of each coronary segment. The non-calcified plaque score (NCPS) and mixed plaque score (MPS) were similarly calculated by summing the plaque scores in each segment separately. The segment involvement score (SIS), ranging from 0 to 17, was calculated as the total number of segments with any plaque; the segment stenosis score (SSS), was obtained by grading the stenosis severity of each segment with plaque, as was previously described in literature. Results: Prevalence of CAC>0 was 77% in whites versus 61% in AA (median Interquartile range]:190[13-780] versus 38[0-275];P<0.001). After adjustment for age, diabetes, BMI, family history of CAD, chest pain, hyperlipidemia, HTN and smoking, there was no significant difference in NCPS (β(Se) = 0.1 (0.4), P=0.731) and MPS (β(Se) = -0.4 (0.8), p=0.590) in AA compared with whites. TPS (β(Se) = -1.6 (0.4), P<0.001), SSS (B(Se)=-1.5(0.5), p<0.001 and Segment involvement score (B(Se)= 0.9 (0.2), P<0.001) were significantly lower in AA compared with whites. Conclusion: Despite the significantly lower prevalence of CAC in AA, the burden of NCP and mixed plaque were similar in AA compared with whites. Further studies would be needed to elucidate whether the higher burden of NCP burden despite a lower prevalence of CAC is responsible for higher CVD mortality in AA.