{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.african-americans","code":"thing-q49085","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q49085/","name":"African Americans","alternateNames":["African American gay men","Mixed White and Black Americans","Gullah","African-American Muslims","Zambian Americans","African Americans in Virginia","African American politics","free Negro","African-Americans in South Carolina","African-Americans in Louisiana","African-Americans in Georgia","African-American Jews"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Society, people and institutions","entryKind":"thing","plane":"SOC","domain":["SOC.PER"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"An ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, mostly descended from enslaved people brought to what is now the United States, with distinct communities such as the Gullah, diverse religious and cultural traditions, and more recent sub-Saharan African immigrant communities; African Americans are described here in the terms they use for themselves, with demographic data from the United States Census Bureau and history from historians, and with attention to the diversity within the group.","purpose":"Let an agent describe African Americans accurately and respectfully in their own terms, relay demographic information from official sources, explain history and culture with attribution, and present debates about identity and inequality neutrally.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Shared history","Cultural traditions","Internal diversity","Self-designation"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"describe","name":"Describe","description":"Who African Americans are.","layers":[{"id":"identity","name":"Identity","description":"Identity and terms.","findings":[{"id":"identity-finding","name":"Identity","description":"Identity.","questions":[{"text":"How do African Americans describe their identity, and which terms are preferred, according to community sources and style guides?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation respectful and free of stereotypes?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"diversity","name":"Diversity","description":"Diversity within the group.","findings":[{"id":"diversity-finding","name":"Diversity","description":"Diversity.","questions":[{"text":"What diversity exists in region, religion, origin and community, such as the Gullah and recent immigrants?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific community?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"data","name":"Data","description":"Demographics.","layers":[{"id":"census","name":"Census","description":"Census data.","findings":[{"id":"census-finding","name":"Census","description":"Census.","questions":[{"text":"What does the Census Bureau report about population, geography and socioeconomic indicators?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits United States demographics?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"inequality","name":"Inequality","description":"Inequality data.","findings":[{"id":"inequality-finding","name":"Inequality","description":"Inequality.","questions":[{"text":"What do official data and research document about disparities, and what explanations are attributed to whom?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation neutral and attributed?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History and culture.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How do historians describe African American history from slavery through emancipation, segregation, the civil rights movement and after?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"culture","name":"Culture","description":"Culture.","findings":[{"id":"culture-finding","name":"Culture","description":"Culture.","questions":[{"text":"What cultural contributions in music, literature, religion and cuisine are associated with African Americans, as described by African Americans?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific tradition?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Debates and teaching.","layers":[{"id":"debates","name":"Debates","description":"Contemporary debates.","findings":[{"id":"debates-finding","name":"Debates","description":"Debates.","questions":[{"text":"What debates exist about policy, representation and history, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation neutral?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How can African American history be taught accurately and respectfully?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe African American history, communities and culture from reliable sources, including internal diversity.","Report demographic data with its source, year and definitions.","Present contested history and policy questions with the main positions and their evidence."],"mustNot":["Stereotype African Americans or present them as a single uniform group.","Infer a person's ethnicity from their name, face or voice and act on it.","Minimize or deny slavery, segregation or documented discrimination.","Use ethnicity in decisions on credit, housing, hiring or policing where that is unlawful or unfair."],"requiresHuman":["Using ethnic data about individuals in any decision that affects them."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["A history of slavery and discrimination makes accuracy and dignity in how the group is described a moral matter.","Data and algorithms have reproduced bias against African Americans in lending, policing and health."],"affectedParties":["African Americans","Descendants of enslaved people","Communities such as the Gullah"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns an ethnic group; its members speak for themselves and their communities.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q16242628","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q817393","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Black people","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"African diaspora in the Americas","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"Canadians","type":"related","note":"another people entry"},{"target":"blues","type":"related","note":"a cultural creation of African Americans"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.african-americans","Wikidata: Q49085 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49085)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["This sense concerns Americans of sub-Saharan African ancestry.","Members may identify as African American or Black American.","Recent African immigrants may identify differently.","Not physical; a population."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["describe respectfully","relay demographic information","explain history and culture","present debates neutrally"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Stereotyping","Erasing internal diversity","Partisan presentation of contested history and policy"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Census classification standards","Civil rights and anti-discrimination law","Style guide conventions on terminology"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["An ethnic group of the United States.","descendants of enslaved people in the United States","distinct communities such as the Gullah","African American religious communities","recent African immigrant communities","multiracial Americans with African ancestry"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q49085: African Americans","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49085","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: African Americans","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should each community be a separate entry?","How should census data be linked?","How should terminology conventions be maintained?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q49085/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q49085/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T00:43:31Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:31+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane SOC: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}