Stop the Ethnocide of Black Americans: Protect Our History, Identity, and Political Representation

We, the undersigned, call upon elected officials, government agencies, educational institutions, and civil rights organizations to recognize and address what many Black Americans view as the ongoing erasure of our distinct history, identity, culture, and political interests.

For generations, Black Americans have contributed to the building of the United States through our labor, innovations, military service, cultural achievements, religious traditions, music, foodways, language, and civil rights struggles. Yet many of us feel that our unique identity is increasingly overlooked, misrepresented, or absorbed into broad racial categories that fail to distinguish our specific historical experience.

We believe that every people has the right to preserve its history, heritage, and identity. Black Americans deserve the same recognition.

Our Concerns

1. Lack of Dedicated Representation

Black Americans do not have a government body specifically tasked with protecting and preserving our historical legacy, cultural contributions, and political interests.

Many Foundational  Black Americans feel that there is no institution within government specifically responsible for ensuring that our historical experiences, cultural achievements, and unique concerns are represented and protected.

Many Foundational Black Americans feel that their specific historical experiences, policy priorities, and cultural concerns are often overshadowed within broader coalitions that group together people with very different histories and backgrounds.

As a result, many FBA advocates believe that organizations, commissions, advisory boards, and advocacy groups that claim to represent Black Americans should include substantial representation from Foundational Black American communities, particularly when addressing issues such as reparations, lineage-based policy proposals, historical preservation, demographic classification, civil rights, and educational curricula.

We believe that no group should speak on behalf of Foundational Black Americans without meaningful participation from Foundational Black Americans themselves.

We support the principle of lineage-based representation in discussions concerning harms and injustices that were specifically experienced by Black American descendants. Communities directly affected by those historical events should have a leading voice in shaping the policies intended to address them.

2. Loss of Historical Identity

Many Black Americans object to being automatically grouped under labels that do not reflect how they identify or understand their ancestry and history.

Individuals should have the right to self-identify without having identities assigned to them by government agencies, institutions, or political organizations.

3. Cultural and Historical Attribution

Black American achievements—including contributions to music, agriculture, cuisine, language, military history, science, invention, religion, and civil rights—should be accurately documented and attributed to the communities that created them.

Many Black Americans are concerned that our contributions are increasingly generalized under broad racial categories, making it difficult to preserve the historical record of who created, developed, and sustained these traditions.

4. Preservation of Black American Heritage

We seek stronger efforts to preserve Black American historical sites, archives, cemeteries, family records, oral histories, and cultural traditions before they are lost.

The stories of our ancestors should not disappear through neglect, misclassification, or historical revision.

5. Accurate Data Collection

Government agencies should provide opportunities for Black Americans to identify themselves in ways that accurately reflect their heritage and historical experience.

Current classifications do not reflect how Black Americans view themselves, their ancestry, or their historical connection to the United States.

6. Educational Recognition

Schools and universities should teach the history of Black Americans as a distinct historical population with its own experiences, struggles, and contributions to the development of the United States.

Future generations deserve an accurate understanding of the people who helped build this nation.

7. Recognition of Foundational Black Americans (FBA)

We support the recognition of Foundational Black Americans (FBA) as a Lineage of distinct historical and cultural population whose roots in the United States stretch back generations.
Many Black Americans identify as Foundational Black Americans because their families' history is deeply tied to the formation and development of the United States. We believe that this identity deserves recognition in public discourse, historical preservation, demographic accuracy, government records, and policy discussions.

We support the right of Black Americans to self-identify as Foundational Black Americans and to have that identity acknowledged and respected as a Lineage.

We believe accurate demographic classification is essential for preserving Black American history, measuring the effects of historical injustices, informing public policy, and ensuring that data concerning Foundational Black Americans is not obscured within broad racial categories.

8. Reparations for Black Americans

We support serious consideration of reparative policies for the descendants of Black Americans who suffered the effects of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws, racial violence, discriminatory government policies, and generations of economic exclusion within the United States.

Any discussion of reparations should specifically address the populations that experienced these historical harms and their descendants.

Our Requests

We call for:

Congressional hearings on the preservation of Black American history and identity.

A federal commission dedicated to preserving Black American heritage.

Official recognition of Foundational Black Americans (FBA) Lineage as a distinct historical population.

Expanded protection of Black American historical sites and records.

Improved demographic categories that allow Black Americans to self-identify more accurately.

Greater inclusion of Black American history in public education.

Meaningful representation of Black American communities in policy discussions.

Serious consideration of reparative measures for descendants of Black Americans who experienced historical injustices in the United States.

Why This Matters

A people cannot thrive if their history is forgotten, their identity is redefined without consent, or their contributions are disconnected from the communities that created them.

This petition is a call for recognition, preservation, self-identification, representation, and historical truth.

We believe that protecting Black American history strengthens the historical record of the United States and ensures that future generations understand the full story of the people who helped build this nation.

Call to Action

Sign this petition if you support the preservation, recognition, and accurate representation of Black American history, identity, heritage, and the right of Foundational Black Americans to define themselves and tell their own story.

 

Our history matters. Our identity matters. Our voice matters.