1.) What does ADOS mean?

ADOS (American Descendants of Slavery) refers to a specific lineage: people whose ancestors were enslaved in the United States.

• It is both a lineage designation and a policy framework — focused on repair, justice, and closing the Black American wealth gap.
• The modern ADOS framework was developed and popularized by Yvette Carnell and Antonio Moore, who established the intellectual foundation for today’s lineage-based policy conversations.

2.) What is “Disaggregation”?

Disaggregation means breaking broad racial data categories into more specific groups so that different populations are not lumped together under one label.

• For ADOS, this means distinguishing American Descendants of Slavery from the broad “Black” category, which currently includes people with very different histories, migration patterns, and economic starting points.

3.) Why is ADOS disaggregation important?

• Because if you cannot see a group in the data, you cannot properly address that group’s needs.
• ADOS, descendants of U.S. chattel slavery, have a unique historical experience tied to slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, exclusion from federal benefits, and targeted discrimination. When ADOS is statistically hidden inside a generic “Black” category, those harms are harder to measure and harder to repair. 

4.) Isn’t “Black” enough as a category?

No.

The broad “Black” category combines people from:

• Multi-generational Black American families descended from slavery in the U.S.
• Recent immigrants from Africa
• Caribbean immigrants
• Anyone with melanin
• Thus any term with “Black” in it faces the same potential scrutiny

These groups may all identify as Black racially, but they often have different socioeconomic profiles, immigration histories, and policy needs. Disaggregation allows truth in the numbers.

5.) Does recognizing ADOS diminish other Black identities?

No.

ADOS simply clarifies that:

• Different histories create different policy needs
• Black Americans with U.S. slavery lineage have specific claims tied to U.S. law and history
• Clarity strengthens advocacy—it doesn’t divide it. 

7.) Why does ADOS emphasize policy so strongly?

Because recognition without policy does not produce results.

ADOS centers:

• Data-driven advocacy
• Legislative action
• Institutional accountability

The goal is not just to define who we are—but to secure targeted policy for the ADOS community.

8.)Why should people engage with the ADOS Advocacy Foundation (ADOSAF)?

Because ADOSAF provides a way to turn awareness into action.

Through ADOSAF, you can:

• Join a local chapter
• Participate in advocacy campaigns
• Access training and policy tools
• Help shape legislation that impacts Black Americans nationwide

👉🏾 Learn more or get involved: ADOSFoundation.org

9.) What has the ADOS Advocacy Foundation already done on this issue?

• The ADOS Advocacy Foundation has already taken direct action.
• In 2022, the organization presented to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Working Group on Race & Ethnicity during the review of Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, which governs how federal race and ethnicity data are collected. ADOSAF explicitly called for ADOS to be recognized as a specific ethnic designation.
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10.) Why does this matter for Reparations?

• Reparations require identifying the harmed class.
• ADOS disaggregation helps define and measure the population whose ancestors were enslaved in the United States and subsequently subjected to state-sanctioned discrimination. If the eligible group is invisible in federal data, policy design becomes weaker and easier to dismiss.