Black American Descendants of Enslaved Persons (BADEP) continue to face harm rooted in slavery, segregation, and systemic discrimination. Existing civil‑rights laws do not fully protect against lineage‑based harm. We call on Congress and the White House to adopt the BADEP Protection and Harm Prevention Act, grounded in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and supported by Supreme Court precedent.

Black American Descendants of Enslaved Persons (BADEP) are a distinct lineage group whose ancestors were enslaved in the United States prior to December 6, 1865. This lineage has endured centuries of state‑sanctioned harm, including slavery, Jim Crow segregation, racial terrorism, discriminatory policing, economic exclusion, and cultural erasure. These harms continue today in the form of disproportionate violence, systemic inequity, and targeted discrimination.

Existing civil‑rights laws—while essential—were not designed to address lineage‑specific harm or the badges and incidents of slavery that persist in modern systems. The BADEP Protection and Harm Prevention Act fills this gap by establishing permanent federal protections against physical, psychological, verbal, spiritual, cultural, and systemic harm.