Within the last week, the internet has been calling attention to cases of missing black and latinx girls within the nation’s capital. This can be accredited to the DC Police Department’s initiative to start sharing photos and information on social media in the hopes of locating these minors. While the department succeeded in its ability to shed some light on the numerous cases of missing minors, other false information regarding the issue has also sparked public outrage. The DC police have clarified that 14 girls had not in fact gone missing within a 24-hour period and that false information like this should not circulate as it only takes away from the true cases that require immediate attention.
The Acting Police Chief Peter Newsham has stated that publicizing this information has given the public the impression that there has been an increase in the number of missing cases when there actually hasn’t been. The Washington Metropolitan Police Department's commander, Chanel Dickerson, has even said that the number of missing persons has decreased in the recent years. She hopes that the media outcry that came about after the department’s social media information release can bring more attention to the issue and help locate the minors more efficiently.
Nevertheless, the DC Police Department has released that in 2017 alone, there have 501 cases of missing children with 22 cases still open.
However, there also remains an issue with the demographics of missing children within the nation as a whole. According to the Black and Missing Foundation, approximately 36.7% of missing persons under the age of 17 are black. The foundation’s co-founder, Natalie Wilson, notes that “a lot of African-American children that go missing are initially classified as runaways” and that they “do not get an Amber Alert or media coverage."
PBS reporter Gwen Ifill provided a possible reason for this lack of media coverage for missing people of color and coined it the "missing white woman syndrome." This phenomenon occurs when mainstream media offers more coverage and attention to missing cases regarding young, white women from middle to upper-class backgrounds. Examples being Natalee Holloway’s nonstop news coverage following her 2005 disappearance in Aruba or Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped in 2002 and rescued almost nine months later.
This past Friday, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced that she intends on creating a task force as a part of a series of initiatives to aid in locating the missing children. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have sent a letter to the Department of Justice that calls for the FBI to look into the disappearance of black and Latino girls in the DC area. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been briefed on the issue and Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores has released that he is “looking into the issue.”
Until then, any information regarding missing persons can be directed to the DC Police Department at (202) 727-9099.
Let’s bring them home.
