California state senator introduces bill to help find missing Black women

A state senator in California has introduced a bill that would help locate Black women and children who are missing in California.

Introduced last month, SB 673 would establish the Ebony Alert notification system. Like the Amber Alert for missing children, the Ebony Alert would give law enforcement the ability to request that an alert be sent out if officers feel it could help an investigation locate a missing Black child or woman between the ages of 12-25 years.

State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) said the Ebony Alert would ensure resources and attention are given to missing Black women and children in the same way attention is given to missing white women and children. 

Though thousands of people go missing in the US every year, racial disparities persist in the amount of attention and law enforcement responses. 

While African Americans account for only 13 percent of the population, they comprised nearly 40 percent of missing persons in the U.S. in 2021, according to the Black and Missing Foundation. 

Still, Black children are disproportionately labeled as “runaways” in comparison to their white counterparts and often do not receive the Amber Alert.

“When someone who is missing is incorrectly listed as a runaway, they basically vanish a second time,” Bradford said. “They vanish from the police detectives’ workload. They vanish from the headlines. In many ways, no one even knows they are missing. How can we find someone and bring them home safely when no one is really looking for them?”

Black women and girls are at increased risk of being harmed and trafficked — nearly 40 percent of sex trafficking victims were Black women in 2021.

Bradford’s bill is sponsored by the NAACP California Hawaii State Conference.

Rick Callender, president of the conference, said the organization considers “missing Black women and girls an epidemic and necessary for its own safety alert.” 

“SB 673 will create the Ebony Alert, providing law enforcement with additional tools and resources to help locate missing Black youth and adults through cooperation with the community and the CHP,” Callender added. 

Bradford isn’t the first to draw attention to the number of missing Black women and children. 

Last summer, then-Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) called on Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to create a task force to find missing Black women. 

This followed his efforts in 2019 to have the FBI begin processing backlogged evidence in dozens of unsolved murders of Black women and girls.