The state of California will create a new nationwide alert system that’s specifically designed to help find missing Black children and women. Senate Bill 673 was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, creating the Ebony Alert.
Working similarly to the Amber Alert system, activated electronic highway signs will post information about the missing person in a coordinated effort to locate the individual. The Ebony Alert will be used to find missing Black youth between the ages 12-25 on Jan. 1. Bill author Sen. Steven Bradford said that California is taking a bold and needed action to locate missing Black children and women in the state.
“Our Black children and young women are disproportionately represented on the lists of missing persons,” Bradford said, calling the disparity “heartbreaking and painful.”
According to reports from the Black and Missing Foundation, nearly four in 10 missing children in the U.S. are Black across the country. About the same percentage of sex trafficking victims are Black women, the report cites. The Black and Missing Foundation also mentioned Black youth being misclassified as “runaways” compared to white youth who are determined to be missing. This mislabeling costs missing Black youth critical media attention and Amber Alert notifications as well.
Link: Sac Bee
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