[ad_1]
Most disappearance cases involving people of color quickly fall off the national radar, if ever they even make it that far – a racist double standard given Gabby Petito’s current saga, critics say.
“Missing White Woman Syndrome” – a term used to describe the disproportionate attention given to disappearing white women, as opposed to people of color – was all the rage on social media Tuesday as hordes of media and d local and federal authorities focused on the Petito Affair.
Petito, a 22-year-old white woman from Long Island, disappeared in the West in late August while hiking with boyfriend Brian Laundrie, sparking a national manhunt and media frenzy.
“We wouldn’t know Gabby Petito existed if she was Native American or black and not a pretty white blonde. ” angry twitter user Lionheart.
Lynnette Gray Bull, a Native American activist from Wyoming, told NPR: “It’s a little heartbreaking to see a white woman who is missing and can get so much immediate attention.
Here are a few cases of missing people of color that haven’t garnered a fraction of the attention given to Petito’s case:
Dulce Maria Alavez
The pigtail kindergarten, 5, went missing from a park in Bridgeton in Cumberland County, New Jersey, two years ago this month, likely torn off by a child predator, authorities said .
But while her case grabbed local headlines for a while, publicity for the still missing Hispanic child declined, with the latest news – an age progression poster released by officials this week. last – taken up by some media.
Lauren Cho
The 30-year-old former New Jersey teacher was last seen walking out of a home in California’s Yucca Valley on June 28, where she was staying with an ex-boyfriend after the the couple’s trip across the country on a converted tour. bus.
She has not been seen since, and Twitter users insisted that her case be given the same attention as Petito’s.
“If missing white woman syndrome is not real, then can you please prove the complainants wrong and make some noise about this Korean-American woman?” ” Dae-Jung wrote in a tweet.
Sofia juarez
The case of the missing toddler in Kennewick, Wash. Appears to have enough twists and turns to garner sustained national attention.
The little girl disappeared while walking down a street on the evening of February 2003 – and possible new leads in the case have recently surfaced.
The tips included a witness who may have seen someone approach the child and take him away, and another person who spotted a busy van with no windows pulled up nearby.
Then there is the recent TikTok video of a woman in Mexico who bears a striking resemblance to photos of Sofia’s advancing age and said she was in Mexico and was a kidnapping victim. .
Authorities are reportedly investigating potential new leads.
Akia Eggleston
It’s been four years since the pregnant black mom from Maryland went missing just before her baby shower in May 2017, and she has yet to be found.
Eggleston’s father Shawn Wilkinson went on “The View” television in 2019 to advocate for anyone with information about the case to come forward.
Last May, her family held a prayer vigil outside the house where she had lived, although it barely attracted media attention.
“It’s very difficult to understand where the police are with the investigation,” Wilkinson told the local Fox branch – the same week, Baltimore cops released a missing person flyer for the young woman.
Tamika huston
The 24-year-old black woman went missing in Spartanburg, SC in 2004 and remained missing until the following year – when her ex-boyfriend confessed to murdering her and drove cops to her remains skeletal.
Her aunt lamented after the discovery of Huston’s body that the family had been trying for months to bring national attention to the case in hopes of locating her.
The two women who founded the Black and Missing Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the disappearance of people of color, cited the case in a February interview with Oxygen.com when asked why they had created their group.
Destiny suffocates
The 26-year-old mother of two young children from Troy, upstate New York, went missing from a bowling alley in Woodside, Queens on November 3, 2020 – and her murdered body was found in the trunk of ‘an abandoned car in the district four months later.
The case gathered a handful of local headlines.
“The differences between the way missing cases are covered with respect to race are stark,” Sulaiminah Burns wrote on Facebook on Sunday – the same day the discovery of Petito’s body made national headlines.
“If you google each name, you’ll see the difference in how each case was handled, the difference in media coverage, the difference in urgency. “
Yaniya Jovon Carter
The 14-year-old girl of color went missing outside of Atlanta on the same day Caitlyn Frisina, a 17-year-old white girl, went missing in Florida in 2017 – yet Carter’s case didn’t deserve half of it. attention from the other teenager, according to an NBC article on racial inequalities in the treatment of missing persons.
The two girls were eventually found safe and sound.
Jade cart
The 23-year-old Native American and mother of two was found dead on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming in January 2020, nearly a month after her mother reported her missing.
The case of his missing person had not had a national impact, angering defenders of Native Americans.
A warrant was reportedly eventually issued against a suspect in Jade’s death.
Selena is not afraid
The 16-year-old Native American went missing on New Years Day 2020 at a rest area in Montana, and it took nearly a month for her body to be found – less than a mile from the place where she was last seen.
She succumbed to hypothermia with her death considered accidental, authorities said.
Her aunt told “Dateline” television the same month: “A large percentage of these missing girls are indigenous.
“But it’s not just an aboriginal problem. It’s a human problem… Those who are missing have no voice, and we must be that voice for them.
La Toyia Figueroa
The pregnant black mom, 24, went missing from Philadelphia in July 2005, and her remains were found out of town a month later.
The father of her unborn child has been arrested for her murder.
At the time, critics said Figueroa’s search and paltry media attention given her case was nothing compared to that offered to Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old white woman who went missing in May. Aruba.
[ad_2]
Source link