40% of all missing persons are black, yet their stories aren’t told
A campaign meant to highlight hundreds of missing African-American women has been launched. According to the National Crime Information Center, approximately 40 percent of missing persons are black.
However, public attention mainly focuses on white women who have vanished.
According to the Black And Missing Foundation, most women disappear in the states of New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and Florida. A total of 273,985 minorities were reported missing in the United States (out of 692,944 for all races) as of December 2010.
The foundation has teamed up with a TV network to make a series, Find Our Missing, telling the stories behind the women’s disappearances. The non-profit organization was formed in 2008 to draw attention to cases and keep pressure on authorities when leads and information dry up.
The Black And Missing Foundation told MailOnline there are a number of reasons as to why the cases of missing black women are largely forgotten. Firstly, the organisation points out that there is often a lack of diversity in newsrooms meaning the African-American community is not properly reflected in coverage. Another key reason is that missing persons from a lower economic status are often associated with some sort of criminal activity.
Many women have been missing for decades, leaving families with little hope or closure.
The Facebook page, Black and Missing But Not Forgotten, seeks to call attention to these cases, often ignored by mainstream media.
How can we get our stories told?
Is it up to us to show the world how much we matter?
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