Anthropology and genetics both confirm that Indigenous peoples of the Americas were phenotypically diverse, including darker skin and varied hair textures. Therefore, the label “African American” is a sociopolitical term, not a biological or origin-based classification in my case.

 

 

 

Many Black Americans are being incorrectly treated as if we are immigrants or foreigners because of race or DNA percentages. That is not accurate.

Some of us come from families that have lived on this land for many generations, before and after slavery, before and after the United States existed as a country. Our families were classified under labels like “Negro,” “Colored,” or “Black,” but those were racial categories, not proof of foreign origin.

Being Indigenous or native to a land does not require membership in a federally recognized tribe. Tribal enrollment is a modern legal system created by the U.S. government. It does not define who is Indigenous, and it does not erase families who were broken apart by slavery, reclassification, adoption, or forced assimilation.

DNA ancestry tests also do not determine nationality, identity, or belonging. DNA shows mixture, not where someone “comes from.” Many populations around the world (Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, Mexicans, Hawaiians) are genetically mixed and are still recognized as native to their homelands. Black Americans are often denied that same recognition.

This petition asks for recognition, accurate education, and protection from erasure, not money or land.

 

By signing, you are supporting:

• Recognition that many Black Americans are not immigrants
• Accurate teaching of Black American history in schools
• An end to using DNA or race to label Black Americans as foreign
• Recognition that Indigenous identity does not require tribal enrollment
• Protection for adoptees and families harmed by forced racial classification

 

 

Your signature is not just symbolic.

After signatures are collected:

The signatures will be exported and documented
They will be attached as evidence of collective harm and concern
The full petition (with historical, genealogical, and scientific documentation) will be formally submitted to:
International human rights bodies
U.S. civil rights and education authorities
State-level education and oversight institutions

 

 

  FAQS

 

1. Is this petition saying Black Americans are not descended from Africans?

No.
Genetic ancestry does not equal immigration or nationality. Scholarly consensus distinguishes ancestral origin from political belonging and domicile. Many Black Americans are multi-generation U.S.-born populations whose African ancestry predates the modern U.S. state itself.¹²

 
2. Is this petition denying slavery happened?

No.
Slavery is a documented historical reality. This petition challenges the false universalization that all Black Americans are defined only by enslavement or foreign origin, ignoring free Black populations, Indigenous admixture, and long-term landholding families.³⁴

 
3. Are you claiming tribal enrollment or sovereignty?

No.
International law recognizes Indigenous peoples without state or federal recognition, particularly where colonial systems disrupted lineage, language, and legal continuity.⁵⁶

 
4. Is DNA being used to prove identity or indigeneity?

No.
Genetic testing companies and population geneticists explicitly state that DNA tests cannot determine nationality, citizenship, or indigeneity and that “unassigned” or “ambiguous” segments are common in populations with deep historical admixture.⁷⁸

 
5. Why compare Black Americans to Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, Mexicans, and Hawaiians?

Because these populations:

Are genetically mixed
Experienced colonization and slavery
Retain homeland recognition despite admixture
Applying a different standard to Black Americans constitutes discriminatory exceptionalism.⁹¹⁰

 
6. Is this an anti-immigrant petition?

No.
This petition does not oppose immigration. It opposes the misclassification of native-born Black Americans as immigrants, which contradicts constitutional birthright citizenship and international human-rights norms.¹¹¹²

 
7. Is this a reparations claim?

No.
The petition seeks recognition, accurate education, and protection from racial erasure, not compensation or land.¹³

 
8. Who is this petition for?

U.S.-born Black Americans with deep lineage
Adoptees affected by racial reclassification
Families erased by census, adoption, or racial law changes
Allies supporting historical accuracy
This aligns with documented harms caused by racial misclassification.¹⁴

 
9. Why does this matter today?

Racial misclassification affects:

Adoption and foster care outcomes
Educational narratives
Social and legal treatment
Cultural continuity
These harms are recognized in U.S. civil-rights law and international conventions.¹⁵¹⁶

 
10. What happens after signing?

Signatures become part of a documented human-rights submission to domestic and international bodies, preserving the issue in the official historical and legal record.¹⁷

 
11. Are Black Americans the only Indigenous people?

No.
This petition recognizes multiple Indigenous and native populations in North America and rejects the idea that federal recognition is the sole determinant of indigeneity.⁵⁶

 
12. One-sentence summary

Black Americans with deep roots in this land are not immigrants, and denying that reality is a form of racial erasure.

 
REFERENCE PAGE

1. U.S. Census Bureau. The Black Population: 2020.
2. Eltis, D., & Richardson, D. Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Yale University Press.
3. Berlin, I. Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South.
4. Franklin, J. H. From Slavery to Freedom.
5. United Nations. UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Arts. 9 & 33.
6. Anaya, J. Indigenous Peoples in International Law. Oxford University Press.
7. AncestryDNA. Understanding Your Ethnicity Estimate (company disclaimer).
8. National Human Genome Research Institute. Genetics and Race.
9. Moreno-Estrada et al. (2014). The genetic makeup of the Puerto Rican population. PNAS.
10. Bryc et al. (2015). Genome-wide patterns of population structure in the Caribbean.
11. U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment.
12. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
13. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Cultural Identity and Human Rights.
14. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Transracial Adoption Outcomes.
15. Equal Protection Clause jurisprudence (Brown v. Board of Education).
16. CERD General Recommendation No. 34 (People of African Descent).
17. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights — Petition Procedures.