🔥Bought and Buried: How the Urban League Traded Indigenous Identity for Federal Dollars
- Ishmael Bey
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 21 minutes ago
How the National Urban League, Ford Foundation, and Federal Poverty Programs Engineered the Racial Disappearance of Indigenous Urban Citizens (1965–1966)**
By Ishmael A. Bey Urban Indian Heritage Society / First Tribe
Identity for Sale: The Urban League and the Financial Killing of the Urban Indian
The Hidden Identity Shift That Changed America
In the summer of 1966, the nation’s most powerful civil-rights organizations gathered in Philadelphia for the 56th Annual National Urban League Convention. Newspapers reported the speeches, the resolutions, the funding promises, and the new initiatives for “Negro equality.”
On the surface, it looked like a moment of progress.
But buried deep inside those same newspaper articles lies a quiet, almost invisible admission one that exposes a massive identity fraud carried out during the Civil Rights era:
**A formal resolution originally identifying people as “Indigenous citizens”
was deliberately altered and replaced with the word “Negro.”**
This is not an interpretation. It is directly stated in the press.
“after substitution of ‘indigenous’ for ‘Negro’ in the text…” — Gettysburg Times, Aug 4, 1966
This single sentence, casually printed in a small-town newspaper, is the key to understanding a much larger story:
The Urban Indian Didn’t Vanish — The Urban League Accepted the Money to Erase Him
How Urban Indians Descendants of Southeastern tribes living in cities—were deliberately reclassified into the “Negro” racial category so federal money could flow.
This exposé reveals how:
The Ford Foundation
The Urban League
The War on Poverty / Johnson Administration
The civil rights funding machine
collectively crushed Indigenous identity in America’s cities not through brute force, but through language, paperwork, and policy categories tied to money.
This is the story of urban ethnocide and how one word substitution changed the fate of millions of Indigenous descendants.
The No Good Bastards Sold the Urban Indians Out Totally!!
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The Smoking Gun: A Resolution About “Indigenous Citizens” Was Changed to “Negro Citizens”
On August 4, 1966, newspapers reported that the National Urban League delegates in Philadelphia debated a proposed resolution from the Washington Urban League.
The Gettysburg Times broke the truth plainly:
“…after substitution of ‘indigenous’ for ‘Negro’ in the text.” — Gettysburg Times, Aug 4, 1966, p.27
This means:
The resolution originally said “Indigenous citizens.”
Someone with authority overrode the language.
The final version replaced Indigenous identity with “Negro.”
No euphemisms. No confusion. No mistake.
This is a documented act of identity substitution.
And it happened on the national stage.
Why Replace “Indigenous”? Because Federal Money ONLY Recognized “Negro Problems.”
The Pasadena Independent (Aug 3, 1966) reported a speech from McGeorge Bundy, President of the Ford Foundation one of the most powerful funders of civil-rights organizations:
“The Ford Foundation will help Negroes achieve equality… the Negro problem…” — Pasadena Independent, Aug 3, 1966
And then the devastating line:
“We will not work through any single chosen instrument.”
Translation:
Ford Foundation funding would only flow through organizations working within the “Negro problem” category.
There was no category for:
Urban Indians
Indigenous descendants in cities
Southeastern tribes displaced into urban ghettos
Reclassified tribal populations
Black Indians
Mixed-heritage Native communities
To be eligible for ANY of the Ford Foundation’s millions, you had to work under:
“Negro” not “Indigenous.”
Thus the political incentive was clear:
Urban Indians had to be reclassified as Negro to receive services, grants, and attention.
This is why the Washington resolution’s original language was unacceptable.
Johnson’s War on Poverty Cemented the Racial Box
The Daily Telegram (Aug 29, 1966) explains the federal motive:
“the Marshall plan for the Negro ghettos as proposed by Whitney Young of the Urban League…” — Daily Telegram, Aug 29, 1966
A billion-dollar anti-poverty structure was being built— but exclusively for “Negro ghettos.”
There was no “Indigenous Urban Poverty” category.
There was no “Urban Indigenous American Assistance” category.
Only two federal boxes existed:
White
Negro
If Indigenous people in cities wanted federal help, they had to be put in the second category by force, by policy, or by paperwork.
The Urban League: Gatekeepers of the Negro Box, Executioners of Indigenous Identity!!
Erased for Funding.
How the Identity Erasure Happened: Public Messaging Shows “Negro Citizens” Supplanted “Indigenous Citizens”
Just days after the substitution, The Sentinel (Aug 13, 1966) ran an article summarizing the official resolutions from the 56th Urban League Convention:
“pride in the part played by Negro Americans…” — The Sentinel, Aug 13, 1966
And:
“Negro citizens… equality in housing, employment, and education…”
This is the final, sanitized language, printed after “Indigenous” was removed.
What you’re reading is:
The identity-erasing version presented to the American public.
The Urban League’s public stance and all its resolutions shifted to align with the federal funding structure:
“Negro ghettos”
“Negro citizens”
“Negro youth employment”
“Negro community action groups”
Nowhere in ANY of the public-facing languages is the Indigenous identity of these same populations acknowledged.
This proves the substitution wasn’t a clerical edit it was the official public position.
Bought Silence. Erased Identity
The Money Trail: Why Indigenous Identity Was Removed
Let’s follow the money:
1. Ford Foundation money was designated for “Negro” programs.
(Pasadena Independent, Aug 3, 1966)
2. Federal anti-poverty programs only funded “Negro ghettos.”
(Daily Telegram, Aug 29, 1966)
3. Urban League’s political power depended on being the representative of “Negro” America.
(The Gazette & Daily, Aug 1, 1966)
4. Therefore, identifying urban communities as “Indigenous” would disqualify them from:
Ford Foundation grants
Johnson’s anti-poverty funds
Community Action Program funding
Model Cities funding
Housing funds
Youth employment programs
Civil-rights coalition money
5. Solution: reclassify Indigenous as Negro.
(Directly evidenced in Gettysburg Times, Aug 4)
This is not a theory. This is not conjecture.
The sequence is documented in real-time newspaper reports.
This Is the Definition of ETHNOCIDE
Ethnocide is the destruction of a people’s identity without killing them physically.
It includes:
forced assimilation
forced reclassification
erasure of tribal identity
replacing Indigenous identity with racial labels
preventing a group from identifying itself in its own terms
denying recognition to Indigenous communities
This is exactly what happened.
By replacing “Indigenous” with “Negro,” the Urban League leadership erased the political identity of Urban Indians—Southeastern Indigenous descendants living in cities.
This was done:
To fit funding categories
To align with federal racial constructs
To justify receiving Ford Foundation and federal money
The result?
An entire population of Indigenous descendants disappeared on paper and reappeared as “Negro,” even when they themselves were naming their identity accurately.
This is ethnocide by administrative action.
Was the Urban League Complicit? ... Yes by Participating in the System
Here is the most honest and historically grounded conclusion:
The National Urban League became institutionally complicit in the ethnocide of Urban Indians by endorsing, implementing, and publicly promoting the racial reclassification demanded by federal and foundation funding.
Their complicity came through:
Silence
Edits
Policy alignment
Public messaging
Acceptance of the racial categories that erased Indigenous identity
Conformity to foundation-driven language
They did not invent the system. But they helped operate it and benefited from it.
That is complicity.
Why This Exposé Matters Now
Because the descendants of these same “Indigenous citizens”—whose identity was erased for funding convenience—are alive today.
They:
Live in Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, D.C., Detroit, St. Louis, New York, New Orleans
Carry Southeastern Indigenous bloodlines
Were misclassified as Negro, Colored, Mulatto, Black, and African American
Were cut off from tribal histories and treaty rights
Were written out of their Indigenous identity through policy, not ancestry
This exposé reveals the mechanism behind that erasure.
It shows the receipts. The paper trail. The language edits. The funding requirements. The political motivations.
And it names the institutions involved.
The Truth Was Hidden in Plain Sight
In 1966, at a major national convention, a resolution calling for the rights of Indigenous citizens was quietly rewritten to refer to Negro citizens because foundation money and federal funds demanded the label.
Half a century later, the descendants of those same Indigenous citizens are still locked into the racial identity that federal poverty programs enforced.
It is time to expose, correct, and repair the damage.
This is the work of the Urban Indian Heritage Society and First Tribe Nation.
This exposé is part of that reclamation.
Remedy for the Misclassified People of North America!
🟫 1950–1960s: Federal Racial Categories Narrow to Two Boxes
White | Negro
Federal census collapses multiracial and Indigenous-descended Eastern tribes into “Negro,” “mulatto,” and “colored.”
Urban Indigenous families (Creek, Yamasee, Catawba, Lumbee, Gullah, Seminole, Choctaw) forced into non-Indian categories.
No federal category exists for Urban Indians unless tied to BIA reservations.
Result: Indigenous identity becomes administratively inconvenient.
🟧 1964–1965: Civil Rights Funding Becomes Racially Structured
Ford Foundation & War on Poverty
Johnson Administration launches anti-poverty programs exclusive to “Negro ghettos.”
Ford Foundation commits millions only to “Negro” programs (Pasadena Independent, Aug 3, 1966).
Urban League becomes primary partner for “Negro uplift.”
Result: Urban Indigenous populations must be called Negro to qualify for ANY funding.
🟨 Summer 1966: The Turning Point — The Identity Switch Exposed
National Urban League Convention, Philadelphia (56th Annual)
📰 Gettysburg Times (Aug 4, 1966):
“after substitution of ‘indigenous’ for ‘Negro’ in the text.”
This proves:
A formal resolution originally referred to “Indigenous citizens.”
National leadership removed the term.
“Negro citizens” is substituted to align with federal funding and political messaging.
Result: Urban Indian identity is erased in real time — on paper, at a national convention.
🟩 Aug 1–5, 1966: Public Messaging Conforms to the Edit
📰 The Gazette & Daily (Aug 1, 1966): Urban League talks about “Negro participation,” “Negro area problems,” and “Urban Survival.”
📰 The Sentinel (Aug 13, 1966): Resolutions now quote:
“pride in the part played by Negro Americans…” “Negro citizens… equality in housing and employment…”
All public documents eliminate the word Indigenous.
Result: The public sees only the substituted identity.
🟦 Aug 29, 1966: Financial Motive Confirmed
📰 Daily Telegram (Aug 29, 1966): Whitney Young’s “Marshall Plan for Negro Ghettos” linked to:
federal money
urban renewal
community action funding
employment and housing grants
No funding exists for “Urban Indigenous” populations.
Result: Entire Indigenous urban communities are converted into “Negro ghettos” for eligibility.
🟪 1966–1975: The Aftermath — The Urban Indian Disappears on Paper
Administrative consequences:
Indigenous identity is stripped from birth certificates, school documents, census records, social programs.
Tribally-descended urban populations are absorbed into “Negro,” then “Black,” then “African American.”
Tribal continuity is broken in public data.
Urban Indigenous families lose all visibility in demographic reporting, making reclamation challenging decades later.
Result: A full generation grows up legally severed from their Indigenous identity.
🟥 Bottom Line (for Infographic Footer)
THE SYSTEM:
Federal funding → Ford Foundation → Urban League 🡆 Only recognizes “Negro” 🡆 Replaces “Indigenous” with “Negro” 🡆 Public resolutions reflect substitution 🡆 Urban Indians become invisible
THE OUTCOME:
Identity Fraud + Administrative Ethnocide
Carried out by policy, paperwork, and financial incentives not by accident.
