We, the residents of New York’s Capital District, are calling on our federal representatives to clarify how the U.S. government defines and applies the terms race, color, and nationality in official documents and legal systems—including the Census, immigration paperwork, and federal classifications under OMB Directive No. 15.

For too long, communities have been misclassified based on skin tone rather than national or ancestral origin. This misclassification affects political representation, public resource distribution, and the legal recognition of people's identity—especially for American descendants of the enslaved, Indigenous peoples, and other historically marginalized groups.

 

We respectfully ask

1. What is the legal and statistical definition of “race” across the past five U.S. Censuses?

2. Why are nationality and race conflated in some documents, yet separated in others (like immigration forms)?

3. Why are people labeled “Black” or “White” instead of by their ancestral nation or ethnic origin?

4. What remedy exists for those misclassified by color terms that hold no legal nationality?

 

We urge Representatives Tonko, Schumer, and Gillibrand to:

*Publicly clarify these classifications

*Direct us to the appropriate agencies for official legal answers

*Support federal legislation that ensures accurate, equitable identity classifications for all U.S. residents

 

This is not just about terminology—it’s about justice, visibility, and full inclusion in the laws that govern our lives. We, the undersigned, stand in unity and request action now.

Sign this petition to support identity justice in the Capital District and beyond.