← Back to catalogue
Published

African Americans

vr.tr.african-americans · thing-q49085

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.

Thing Registry Society, people and institutions SOC.PER
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Describe Who African Americans are.

Identity

Identity and terms.

Identity

Identity.

  1. How do African Americans describe their identity, and which terms are preferred, according to community sources and style guides? provenance
  2. Is the presentation respectful and free of stereotypes? boundary

Diversity

Diversity within the group.

Diversity

Diversity.

  1. What diversity exists in region, religion, origin and community, such as the Gullah and recent immigrants? provenance
  2. Which entry fits a specific community? action
Data Demographics.

Census

Census data.

Census

Census.

  1. What does the Census Bureau report about population, geography and socioeconomic indicators? provenance
  2. Which entry fits United States demographics? action

Inequality

Inequality data.

Inequality

Inequality.

  1. What do official data and research document about disparities, and what explanations are attributed to whom? provenance
  2. Is the presentation neutral and attributed? boundary
History History and culture.

History

History.

History

History.

  1. How do historians describe African American history from slavery through emancipation, segregation, the civil rights movement and after? provenance
  2. Which references are standard? provenance

Culture

Culture.

Culture

Culture.

  1. What cultural contributions in music, literature, religion and cuisine are associated with African Americans, as described by African Americans? provenance
  2. Which entry fits a specific tradition? action
Learn Debates and teaching.

Debates

Contemporary debates.

Debates

Debates.

  1. What debates exist about policy, representation and history, with positions attributed? provenance
  2. Is the presentation neutral? boundary

Teach

Teaching.

Teach

Teaching.

  1. How can African American history be taught accurately and respectfully? action
  2. Which misconceptions arise? provenance

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Society, people and institutions
Entry kind
thing
Plane
SOC
Domain
SOC.PER
Other names and narrower kinds
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

What it is Filled

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.

Why it exists Filled

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.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • Shared history
  • Cultural traditions
  • Internal diversity
  • Self-designation

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • 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.

Only with a human decision

  • Using ethnic data about individuals in any decision that affects them.

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.

Moral aspects Filled

  • 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.

Who is affected

  • African Americans
  • Descendants of enslaved people
  • Communities such as the Gullah

Owners Filled

Steward

Nobody owns an ethnic group; its members speak for themselves and their communities.

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q16242628 - registry parent class
  • Q817393 - registry parent class

related

  • Black people - category
  • African diaspora in the Americas - category
  • Canadians - another people entry
  • blues - a cultural creation of African Americans

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.african-americans
  • Wikidata: Q49085 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49085)

Direct properties not applicable Not applicable

Not applicable

Plane SOC: no invented physical properties.

Recognition optional Filled

  • 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 and actions required Filled

  • describe respectfully
  • relay demographic information
  • explain history and culture
  • present debates neutrally

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Stereotyping
  • Erasing internal diversity
  • Partisan presentation of contested history and policy

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • Census classification standards
  • Civil rights and anti-discrimination law
  • Style guide conventions on terminology

Context of use required Filled

  • 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 Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q49085: African Americans - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: African Americans - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Should each community be a separate entry?
  • How should census data be linked?
  • How should terminology conventions be maintained?

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q49085/spec.json