It's estimated that roughly 33% of all missing children's cases in the U.S. involve Black boys and girls. And yet their cases never seem to grab national headlines in the same way that stories of white children do. The same can be said for missing Black women, who often go ignored by the national news media in favor of stories about white women.
A new bill in California is hoping to put an end to that. State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) introduced Senate Bill 673, which hopes to establish an "Ebony Alert" similar to the Amber Alert, but specifically aimed at Black women and children.
The bill would be limited to California
However, the hope is that if it's passed — and the Ebony Alert is successful — other states may quickly follow its lead.
"The Ebony Alert would ensure that resources and attention are given so we can bring home missing Black women and Black children in the same way we would search for any missing child and missing person," said Bradford, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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The results of this could be huge
According to the Black and Missing Foundation, 38% of all people reported missing in the United States each year are Black. That said, Amber Alerts are rarely issued for them.
"Young African American girls are listed more likely as runaways versus missing, and even those who are being exploited sexually are listed as juvenile prostitutes," Bradford said. "And as we all know, someone under the age of 18 cannot consent to selling sex, so just the labels that they put on them just makes law enforcement far less inclined to look for them."
The goal is to keep these cases from slipping through the cracks
And the only way to do that, some say, is to shine a bigger spotlight on them from the start.
According to Bradford's proposal, Ebony Alerts would first be triggered by local law enforcement. From there, the California Highway Patrol would issue an alert in specific areas of the state where Black children and young Black women ages 12 to 25 were "reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances."
Other factors that will be considered include whether the person may have been a victim of trafficking or abduction, if their physical safety is endangered, and if they suffer from any sort of physical or mental disability.
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Advocacy groups seem hopeful that the bill will be passed
Community activist and Voice of the Youth founder Berry Accius told KCRA3 this week that it could be a real "game changer" in light of the ongoing lack of attention missing Black women and children get from the media.
"A lot of our missing Black girls, they never come home, as well as many of the missing Black girls get sex-trafficked," Accius said. "When you’re putting something like this that is very much intentionally focused on Black girls, Black children, that's a game changer in so many different ways because it says this is directly for you, and the response will be a lot different."
For now, all Bradford and his supporters can do is wait
SB 673, which has been sponsored by the NAACP California Hawaii State Conference, has reportedly passed through the Senate Public Safety Committee with flying colors. But now it heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee where it needs to pass other tests.
