The Freedmen Trust Formally Recognizes “Negro” as a Historical Legal Classification

In a move rooted in historical precision and legal clarity, the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust has officially adopted the term “Negro” as a valid historical classification within its legal framework. This recognition is not about embracing outdated language—it is about defending the documentary trail that proves our status.

For generations, the U.S. government used the term “Negro” to classify formerly enslaved people and their children. From U.S. Census records between 1790 and 1970, to military and federal employment documents, to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this term defined a specific group of people: American Freedmen. These are the same individuals whose descendants are now organizing under the Freedmen Nation for redress and reparative justice.

We are not reviving the term for cultural or everyday use. Instead, we are preserving it as a legal and archival tool—one that keeps our claims grounded in the exact language used when our families were recorded, counted, segregated, and denied. If we allow these records to be erased, replaced, or generalized, then our status can be diluted, and our claims to reparations compromised.

This move helps protect the continuity of evidence that links us to America’s history of slavery and segregation. It draws a clear boundary between status-based identity and modern racial constructs that too often blur the distinction between Freedmen and others.

The use of the term “Negro” within the Trust is restricted. It will appear only in historical, legal, and internal contexts—never in a casual or pejorative way.

At Freedmen Nation, our goal is to preserve the integrity of the Freedmen identity. That means recognizing the terms under which our ancestors were recorded, without shame, distortion, or erasure.

See our recognition below.