California has become the first state to create an alert system specifically geared towards finding missing Black women and girls. Senate Bill 673 was signed by the governor, Gavin Newsom, earlier this week amid a wave of legislation that has come across the governor\u2019s desk.
Ebony alerts would allow the California highway patrol to trigger emergency notifications on phones and road signs \u2013 similar to Amber and Feather alerts \u2013 to let people know that a Black person between the ages of 12 and 25 is missing in the area.
\u201cOur Black children and young women are disproportionately represented on the lists of missing persons,\u201d Steven Bradford, a Democratic state senator who represents cities in southern LA county and authored the bill, said in a statement. \u201cThis is heartbreaking and painful for so many families and a public crisis for our entire state. The Ebony alert can change this.\u201d
California does not break down data on missing persons by race, but nationally, Black people represent 35% of those reported missing to the federal government\u2019s National Crime Information Center\u2019s (NCIC) missing person\u2019s file, according to a Guardian analysis of NCIC data, despite making up only 13% of the population.
In recent years, organizations like the Black and Missing Foundation have shone a light on these racial disparities, as well as the lack of attention missing people of color receive from law enforcement and news media.
The Black and Missing Foundation described Bradford\u2019s bill as a \u201cstep in the right direction\u201d that other US legislators should look to emulate.
\u201cIt is important to continue to raise awareness about this issue and advocate for policies that prioritize finding missing people of color. We must ensure that every missing person is given the same amount of attention and resources, regardless of their race or socioeconomic status,\u201d the Black and Missing Foundation said in a statement.
The California highway patrol only issues an Amber alert if a person younger than 17 is confirmed to have been abducted. This, along with longstanding assumptions about Black criminality, had led law enforcement to over-classify Black youth as runaways, according to SB673\u2019s text.
These factors also obscure issues like sex trafficking, said Sikivu Hutchinson, founder of the Women\u2019s Leadership Project in Los Angeles.
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\u201cIt\u2019s outrageous that Black children that go missing are perceived as being runaways or criminal or vagrant in some way,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a vicious cycle and does not get the exposure.\u201d
But Hutchinson adds that this bill can only act as a Band-Aid if it doesn\u2019t also lead to coordination between law enforcement, government and the local non-profits that work directly with trafficking victims and at-risk young people, especially those who have already had contact with the criminal legal system.
\u201cThe superficial value is that there\u2019s more exposure, more eyes and ears on these cases,\u201d Hutchinson said. \u201cThe systemic impetus for this is not being addressed, it\u2019s looking at the front end of prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n