10 signatures reached
To: U.S. Congress, Department of the Treasury, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Tax Profits from Media that Exploits BA Struggles
We, the undersigned, call for the creation of a targeted tax on film, television, and streaming content that profits from depictions of Black American suffering, struggle, and historical trauma. The revenue from this tax should be directed into a national fund that issues monthly payments to Black American citizens.
Why This Matters:
For decades, the film and television industries have profited from dramatizing the oppression, pain, and history of Black Americans. Stories of slavery, segregation, police violence, and systemic injustice are repeatedly monetized by studios, streaming platforms, and distributors, often without any direct benefit to the communities whose lived experiences are being depicted.
While these stories are important and deserve to be told, they should not serve as revenue streams for corporations without corresponding reparative measures for the communities portrayed.
We Demand:
- Cultural Exploitation Tax (CET):
A federal tax on media companies whose content focuses significantly on Black American trauma, history of enslavement, systemic racism, or related struggles. This includes, but is not limited to, movies, TV shows, documentaries, and docuseries. - Black Cultural Equity Fund (BCEF):
A government-managed fund supported by the CET that pays monthly reparative stipends to eligible Black American citizens, with a focus on descendants of enslaved people in the United States. - Oversight & Transparency:
The establishment of an independent oversight board—comprising Black scholars, economists, cultural leaders, and legal experts—to ensure fair implementation, monitoring, and transparency of both the tax and the fund.
Why is this important?
This Petition Is Not Against Art—It's for Justice:
We believe in the importance of telling Black stories. However, justice requires that when profit is made from the historical and contemporary pain of a people, that people must also materially benefit.
It is time to turn cultural awareness into structural action.
Sign this petition if you believe that companies profiting off of Black American struggles should contribute directly to the communities whose lives, history, and culture they portray.
How it will be delivered
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