Hopefully, this is not the first you're hearing about the missing girls in D.C. There are currently 38 open cases of missing persons in D.C. All 38 missing people are people of color. 12 of the most recent girls are 18, or under. The issue that many people have stated on social media, is the innate racism in the handling of these missing persons' cases.
The most alarming, when a 10-year-old girl went missing and there was no amber alert sent out. In these types of cases, the more time that passes, the less chance of finding the victim there is. D.C. City council member Trayon White told HLN's Michaela Pereira in an interview,
"What the community is alarmed about -- we had a ten year old girl missing the other day, but there was no amber alert. We just feel like, you know, if this was a white person or from another neighborhood, there would be more alarm about it."
The Department of Justice states the requirements for sending an Amber Alert are:
1) There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.
3) There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction.
4) The child is 17 years old or younger.
The fact that an Amber Alert wasn't sent out is exposing a deeply rooted, systemic racism.
"There's no evidence to suggest that D.C. has a human trafficking problem" says Metropolitan Police department Spokeswoman Rachel Reid.
With little to no media coverage, the dialogue seems to be communicated via social media platforms. Many celebrity's have brought light to the issue such as Taraji P. Henson, rapper LL Cool J and hip-hop mogul, Russell Simmons. Michelle Obama informed not only the U.S., but the world, of the missing girls in Nigeria back in April 2014. The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls reached over 1 million tweets. President Trump, who's slogan is "Make America Great Again", has yet to comment on the issue taking place in his very own backyard.
