Background: As concerns mount regarding overtreatment and over-diagnosis of prostate cancer (CaP), active surveillance (AS) is increasingly utilized in low risk patients. While African-American (AA) race is associated with adverse outcomes after prostatectomy, its effect on patients managed with AS is not known. Methods: A retrospective review identified 222 patients managed with AS at the Duke Prostate Center from January 2005 to September 2011. All men had CaP diagnosed on biopsy performed at our center, and elected AS over treatment. Failure was defined as progression to treatment. In men who failed AS, the reasons for failure, follow-up PSA and biopsy characteristics were analyzed. The primary outcome - time from diagnosis to failure of AS for a reason other than patient choice - was analyzed with univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results: In our AS cohort, 73% are Caucasian and 23% AA. Median follow-up is 25.4 months. Age, household income, BMI, PSA, clinical stage, family history, prostate volume, number of cores with cancer, and Gleason grade on initial biopsy did not differ by race. The number of biopsies and PSA tests performed on AS did not differ by race. A higher proportion of AA men tended to fail from biopsy progression (72.7% vs. 63.8%) while a lower proportion failed by choice (9.1% vs. 14.9%) compared to Caucasians (p = 0.114). AA men had a significantly shorter time to failure (HR 1.74, p = 0.045) compared to Caucasians. There was a trend toward increased Gleason grade 8 or higher cancer on follow-up biopsy in AA compared to Caucasian men (10% vs. 2.5%, p = 0.08). AA race remained a predictor (HR 1.76, p = 0.058) of failure on multivariable analysis, as did initial PSA (HR 1.90, p = 0.031) and number of cores with cancer on initial biopsy (HR 1.29, p = 0.013). Conclusions: AA race was associated with higher risk for failure of AS. There was a trend toward AA men failing due to biopsy progression and with higher grade cancer. Additional follow-up is necessary to determine how this affects the long term outcomes of these men.