Legal Definition:
Descendants of United States Chattel Slavery (DUSCS™) are individuals who can establish lineal descent from persons subjected to the specific system of racialized chattel slavery as codified and enforced within the territorial boundaries of the United States of America from approximately 1619 through 1865.
This definition is precise and legally distinct. DUSCS are not defined by continental African origin, geographic descent, or general racial identity. DUSCS are not the broader African diaspora. DUSCS are not represented by the African Union or any African state government. DUSCS are defined by one criterion: lineal descent from people subjected to a specific domestic legal regime, enforced by U.S. courts, administered by the U.S. government as sovereign, and documented in U.S. government records.
The harms DUSCS bear, the partus sequitur ventrem inheritance chain, the 13th Amendment exception clause, the inadequate Freedmen's Bureau remedy, the racially disparate family separation under CAPTA, the racial wealth gap produced by government-administered exclusion, are each traceable to named U.S. statutes. The remedy obligation runs against the United States government. Not against Africa. Not against the African Union. Against the government that passed the laws.
Origin of This Definition:
The DUSCS™ designation in the international human rights advocacy context was originated and first filed in the international record by Christina Christopher Laster, DUSCS, Parent Advocate, Policy and Legislation Strategist, on April 2, 2026, when formal civil society submissions asserting DUSCS as a legally distinct group were filed before the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism (Reference wjhbe0m0) and the UN Human Rights Committee (ICCPR), concurrently with a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
These filings assert DUSCS as a legally distinct group under ICCPR Article 27, CERD General Recommendation No. 29 on Descent-Based Discrimination (A/57/18, 2002), and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (A/CONF.189/12, 2001).
DUSCS™ is used in connection with advocacy, civic rights education, policy and legislation strategy, and cultural production under US Trademark rights.
All uses of the DUSCS name in connection with advocacy, education, music, and community organizing are currently claimed under common law trademark rights established through continuous public use beginning April 2, 2026.
© 2026 Bold Enterprises LLC. DUSCS™ is a trademark of Bold Enterprises LLC.