The definition of "African American"  according to the US government and Special Directive 15 of the Office of Management & Budget is as follows:

"Individuals with origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa"

This means that

• Afro-Caribbeans are African American
• Continental Africans are African American
• Afro-latinos are African American
• Black Americans are African Americans

From a data collection and legislative point of view, this cripples those families whose ancestors were enslaved and emancipated from enslavement in the US as there is no legal term with which to provide specific policies or resources. It also hinders the other ethnic groups that immigrated to the US from being accurately counted and addressed

Policies based on race are unconstitutional and the only solution is to disaggregate the data.

The NY State Legislative Black Taskforce was created to advocate and represent for their constituents that are a part of the Black/African American demographic. Data disaggregation benefits all the members of this group. Name us right, serve us right!