Black women and children in the United States are going missing at a disproportionate rate, often receiving little media coverage. A proposed California law aims to bridge the gap by creating an "Ebony Alert" system to call attention to cases with Black victims.

According to the Black and Missing Foundation, 38 percent of children in the United States that are reported missing are Black, despite Black people accounting for 14 percent of the population. Missing Black children are often disproportionately classified as "runaways," and therefore do not receive Amber Alerts.

Similar to an Amber Alert for missing children or a Silver Alert for missing elderly people, an Ebony Alert would inform the public of missing Black children and young women. Introduced by State Senator Steven Bradford, Senate Bill 673 aims to combat the racial biases that arise in missing persons cases.

"When someone who is missing is incorrectly listed as a runaway, they basically vanish a second time," he said in a press release. "They vanish from the police detectives' workload. They vanish from the headlines. In many ways, no one even knows they are missing."

An Ebony Alert would also benefit missing Black women, who account for 40 percent of sex trafficking victims. President Rick Callender of the NAACP California Hawaii State Conference, which is sponsoring the bill, said that missing women of color is an epidemic within itself.

“Black women and girls are at increased risk of harm and make up a disproportionate percentage of all missing people," he said. "The NAACP California Hawaii State Conference considers missing Black women and girls an epidemic and necessary for its own safety alert.”

To request an Ebony Alert, the victim must be between 12 and 25 years old, at risk of trafficking or abduction, in physical danger, and/or physically or mentally disabled. Bradford continued to say that the alerts would divert more eyes to cases with Black victims so they have a greater chance at being solved, and an equal chance to cases with White victims.

“The Ebony Alert would ensure that resources and attention are given so we can bring home missing Black women and Black children in the same way we would search for any missing child and missing person,” Bradford said, adding, "How can we find someone and bring them home safely when no one is really looking for them?"