American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) is a term referring to descendants of enslaved Africans in the area that would become theUnited States (from its colonial period onward), and to the political movement of the same name. Both the term and the movement grew out of thehashtag #ADOS created by Yvette Carnell and Antonio Moore.[1]
The ADOS movement focuses mainly on demandingreparations for the system ofslavery in the United States.[2] They want colleges, employers and the federal government to prioritize ADOS and argue thataffirmative action policies originally designed to help ADOS have been used largely to benefit other groups.[2]
Supporters of the ADOS movement say they should have their own ethnic designation on census forms and college applications, and should not be lumped in with otherBlack people—namely modernBlack African immigrants to the United States andBlack immigrants from the Caribbean.[2]
The American Descendants of Slavery movement was founded by Yvette Carnell and Antonio Moore,[1] who co-host online ADOS radio shows.[3] Carnell has been an aide for two Democratic politicians, SenatorBarbara Boxer and CongressmanRobert Marion Berry.[3] Moore is a defense attorney inLos Angeles.[3]
The ADOS's website says that it seeks "a New Deal for Black America" including, among other things,reparations for slavery specifically for American descendants of slavery in the United States; a 50% government-fundedtax credit for college expenses for American descendants of slavery in the United States (75% for those who attendhistorically black colleges or universities); restoration of the protections of the Voting Rights Act;prison reform; and a minimum of 15% ofSmall Business Administration loans for ADOS businesses.[4] The group supportsaffirmative action for American descendants of slavery, but opposes it for all otherethnic minorities.[4]
A distinguishing feature of the ADOS movement is its explicit emphasis on black Americans who descended from slavery and its disagreements withblack immigrants from Africa andthe Caribbean.[2] The group demands "a new designation on the Census with ADOS and another for Black immigrants" to the United States.[4] Supporters of ADOS push the issue on social media with the hashtag #ADOS and state that it "sets out to shift the dialogue around the identity of what it is to be African American in an effort to move the discussion frommelanin and properly center the discussion around lineage";[5] they view ADOS as having distinct interests from broader groups, such aspeople of color or ethnic minorities generally.[3]
The ADOS movement's leaders say that it is nonpartisan.[2] Carnell and Moore identify as anti-Trump and lifelongDemocrats,[3] and the group has frequently attacked the Democratic Party,[2] urging black voters to seek an alternative to it.[3] The movement has become "lightning rod for criticism on the left,"[2] and pro-Trump and right-wing figures, such asAnn Coulter andAli Alexander, have used the #ADOS hashtag.[2][3] Carnell once appeared in YouTube video in a "Make America Great Again" hat,[2][3] later saying that it was a joke.[3] The group's supporters have been critical of immigration,[2][3] and have sometimes deployed rhetoric with an anti-immigrant cast, although they deny beingxenophobic.[2] In Twitter posts, Carnell defended the term "blood and soil," a slogan used by theNazis;[2] Moore has criticized a CBS News report written by a reporter with a Hispanic surname, asserting that the journalist "clearly has a conflicted interest to write the story."[3] Carnell previously served as a board member of the anti-immigration group Progressives for Immigration Reform, which is tied to right-wing groups funded by nativist financierJohn Tanton. In September 2009, Progressives for Immigration Reform praised ADOS calling it "a movement that understands the impact unbridled immigration has had on our country's most vulnerable workers".[2][3] Carnell's affiliation with the group has been a focus of criticism of the ADOS movement.[3]
In 2019, some ADOS activists challengedKamala Harris's authenticity as a Black woman, asserting that she was not "African American" (Harris's father isJamaican American). The claim suggested that black Americans of immigrant descent, even from countries with a history of slavery under colonial rule (such as Jamaica) do not share the same struggle against racism and discrimination as the descendants of Black people in the United States.[3] The claim that Harris was not authentically black was amplified byright-wing figures, includingDonald Trump Jr., and criticized by civil rights leaders,[3] who accused Carnell of engaging in xenophobic "birtherism."[2] Carnell and Moore have also criticized the African-American intellectualTa-Nehisi Coates for his past support ofBarack Obama because of his pushing only for a public study of reparations rather than endorsing reparations.[3]
The group's first national conference, held in October 2019 atSimmons College inLouisville, Kentucky, attracted more than a thousand attendees; guest speakers includedMarianne Williamson andCornel West.[2] CongressmanJohn Yarmuth attended a session at the conference.[6]
In a 2020 article inMisinformation Review, a journal published by theShorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy atHarvard'sKennedy School of Government (HKS), a group of authors, including academics and journalists, some affiliated with theDemocratic Party-linked activist groupMoveOn, analyzed postings with the #ADOShashtag onTwitter in the runup to that year's elections, where ADOS had urged voters not to cast a presidential vote for any Democrat unless the party formally endorsed reparations. The authors concluded that ADOS was a disinformation operation that served the interests of the political right by discouraging Black people from voting. At the end of 2021, after informal and formal complaints from ADOS and two reviews that found fault with the study's methodology,Misinformation Reviewretracted the paper (the authors admitted some of the criticisms were valid but stood by their work).[7] In mid-2022, Carnell and Moore sued HKS, the paper's authors, MoveOn and several other unknown defendants, allegingdefamation.[8]
The movement is "tiny but outspoken";[3] the number of active supporters is believed to be in the thousands.[2]
New York Times writerFarah Stockman called ADOS "the most polarizing subject that I have ever tackled". Stockman questioned in November 2019 whether the movement was large enough to warrant discussion on a national level but decided to print an article about the group inThe Times.[9]
Hubert Adjei-Kontoh ofThe Outline opined that "#ADOS has managed to synthesize the black left-wing critique of America's origins with a right-wing belief in the inherent superiority of those who were born in America."[10] Gregory Carr, co-chairman of Afro-American studies atHoward University and a longtime reparations supporter, called ADOS a "weaponized" movement that had become "indefensibly xenophobic andnativist."[3]Kevin Cokley of the University of Texas at Austin is critical of the organization's desire to separate the descendants of slaves from African immigrants and encouraged the two groups to be united under an African American identity.[11]Malcolm Nance described supporters astrolls, calling them "a mix of [African American] proTrump racists [and] nuts."[12] Black commentator and authorRoland Martin has described the notion of a "black purity test" as promoted by the movement "nothing butself-hate cloaked in black self-love."[3]Talib Kweli is critical of the group because he believes they are aligned with theRepublican Party against immigration.[12]Shireen Mitchell stated the group was making it easier for black voters to justify voting forDonald Trump.[2]
Alvin Bernard Tillery, Jr., an associate professor atNorthwestern University, states that the issues ADOS raised on who should receive reparations will have to be reflected upon by the black community.[12]William A. Darity Jr. believes the ADOS' premise is based on a distinctive ethnic identity that exists among the descendants of American slaves.[12] He defended ADOS against nativism claims[13] and believes they are supporting people who have not benefitted in the current American system.[2]Cornel West stated at an ADOS conference inLouisville, Kentucky that the ADOS movement was resuming the work started byMartin Luther King Jr. andMalcolm X.[9]
