Democrat Senator Slammed for Proposing ‘Ebony Alert’ for Missing Black Women, Children

A California Democrat senator faced backlash online after his proposal to create an “Ebony Alert” system geared at assisting in exclusively locating black women and children who go missing.

Introduced by Democrat state Sen. Steven Bradford, the bill aims to launch a notification system to inform people of missing black children and young women.

While the initiative is modeled after the existing well-known national Amber Alert system, it is designed specifically to address only those missing individuals who are black.

In a recent press release, the bill’s author said the public notification system is needed “to address the often ignored or lack of attention given to Black children and young Black women that are missing in California.”

According to Bradford, who serves as vice chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, it also intends to “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.” 

The legislation, which is sponsored by the NAACP California Hawaii State Conference, follows the creation of the “Feather Alert” system that was signed into law last year by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). 

That system, administered by the California Highway Patrol, is directed specifically at locating indigenous people who were reported missing.

While high-profile personal injury attorney Ben Crump called the new “Ebony Alert” system “a great idea that will keep our Black communities safe,” some have expressed concerns about the need for a race-specific alert system.

“Democrats love segregation,” wrote one Twitter user.

“God these people are racist,” wrote another.

“This is absolutely lunacy, the Amber Alert system in California is not race-segregated and the proposal of this Ebony Alert system would be,” another user wrote. “WHY?”

“We don’t need an ebony alert. All children are covered in the amber alert,” wrote one Twitter user.

“Segregation here we come,” another wrote.

“The Amber Alert is already in place, this Ebony Alert is unnecessary and racist,” wrote yet another.

“Segregationists,” wrote a Twitter user. “Amber Alert isn’t based off of the color ‘Amber’, it was named after the girl that went missing.”

Bradford, who sits on the state panel considering reparations of over $800 billion for black residents of California, has previously claimed the Golden State has a moral obligation to provide compensation — though it was never a slave state — because African Americans were treated as harshly in California as they were in the post-Civil War South.

Last month, a CNN senior writer warned against white people posting memes featuring black people lest they be guilty of “digital blackface,” which he described as one of the “most insidious forms of contemporary racism.”

Meanwhile, White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo argued that people of color “need to get away from white people and have some community with each other,” as she lauded racially segregated “spaces” during a discussion about promoting “racial justice.”

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.