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On October 10, the brand-new Ebony Alert law was introduced in the state of California by Governor Gavin Newsom. This new bill that was turned into a law is aimed to bridge the gap when it comes to missing persons cases involving people of color, especially children and women, as per the Independent.
The co-sponsor of the bill, Senator Steven Bradford, dubbed the Ebony Law as the “first of its kind” in the USA, although it is inspired by the Amber Alert law, which helps track missing minors (aged 17 years or less) by activating electronic highway signals to alert the public.
In fact, the newly enacted Ebony Alert law will operate in a similar way as Amber Alert, as reported by The Independent. However, it will be applicable to trace missing Black children and women aged between 12 and 25 years. It is expected to come into effect on January 1, 2024.
As soon as the news became viral over social media platforms, it stirred up controversy, with many deeming it a racist law.
“Fighting racism with racism is not the answer”: Ebony Alert law triggers backlash from Twitteratti
California’s newly enacted legislation, Ebony Alert, which will help track missing persons of color, especially Black children and women aged between 12 and 25 years, came under fire online, with netizens calling it racist.
The law that is set to be implemented at the beginning of next year will enable California Highway Patrol to activate it as and when Black individuals are reported missing by local law enforcement. As per The Independent, the law will also encourage the public via TV, cable, radio, social media, and more to “cooperate with disseminating the information.”
Unfortunately, the law has not been well-received, with many calling it controversial and discriminatory. Here are some of the reactions from the comment section of @Travis_in_Flint's X post about the same.
Meanwhile, Senator Bradford, who was the co-sponsor of the Ebony Alert, justified it by saying in a statement that Black youth often get neglected by the Amber Alert and are considered “runaways” when they go missing, in comparison to White youths. As a result, this new law is important in distinguishing between the two. He added:
“Today, California is taking bold and needed action to locate missing Black children and Black women in California…[They] are disproportionately represented on the lists of missing persons. This is heartbreaking and painful for so many families and a public crisis for our entire state. The Ebony Alert can change this.”
For those uninitiated, Amber Alert was named after Amber Hagerman, a Texas teenager who was kidnapped and later killed in January 1996. However, Ebony Alert is derived from the word “ebony,” a term often used to mean “black,” which has further intensified backlash against it.
Interestingly, since its inception in 1997, Amber Alert has rescued over 1100 individuals, the majority of them White. Meanwhile, it is also important to note that California already has the Silver Alert system used to locate missing senior citizens, alongside the Feather Alert system used to track people of all ages and races.
As per NBC News, in 2022, around 141,000 Black children and 16,500 Black women went missing all across the USA. Among them, more than 30,000 still remained unaccounted for.
