I don't like racial essentialism or affirmative action either, but this seems aimed at doing a better job finding missing kids, so I'm ok with it. Missing black youth are less likely to get media attention and more likely to be written off as runaways, which makes them ineligible for Amber Alerts. So there's already a racial disparity in the current system. This just seems to give law enforcement another tool for cases that don't qualify for Amber Alerts.
Here's some background info I found from NBC News:
"In order for authorities in California to issue an Amber Alert, the victim must be under 17 — or have a proven disability, — there must be reason to believe they’re in danger, and the alerts cannot be used for custodial disputes or runaway cases. Part of the problem is that missing Black children are usually classified as runaways and, as a result, don’t get an AMBER alert, according to the foundation. Since its inception in 1996, 1,127 children have been successfully recovered through the Amber Alert system, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Black and Missing Foundation also also found that Amber alerts are inexplicably less effective when Black children are missing than for white children."
Yet "stop and frisk" programs targeting blacks -- or any racial profiling -- also has an admiral goal of reducing violence, yet we as a culture have decided, usually albeit less frequently, that racial (often called racist) tactics are unacceptable in our society.
I've dug heavily into missing kid stats -- which aren't easy to untangle -- and the vast, vast majority of all missing kids are runaways, of all races. It's higher among blacks, but I haven't seen any reason to believe that there's somehow a flaw in the Amber Alert system by race. At all.
Finally, not to be a jerk because I enjoy your challenges, but writing "Black children" and "white children" is also another form of racism, recently introduced to us by a media et al that keep doing their best to elevate some colors over others. The growing division hurts us all.
TIred of this damn Race this, Race that
So if we call it an Ebony Alert more black children will be found???
I don't like racial essentialism or affirmative action either, but this seems aimed at doing a better job finding missing kids, so I'm ok with it. Missing black youth are less likely to get media attention and more likely to be written off as runaways, which makes them ineligible for Amber Alerts. So there's already a racial disparity in the current system. This just seems to give law enforcement another tool for cases that don't qualify for Amber Alerts.
Here's some background info I found from NBC News:
"In order for authorities in California to issue an Amber Alert, the victim must be under 17 — or have a proven disability, — there must be reason to believe they’re in danger, and the alerts cannot be used for custodial disputes or runaway cases. Part of the problem is that missing Black children are usually classified as runaways and, as a result, don’t get an AMBER alert, according to the foundation. Since its inception in 1996, 1,127 children have been successfully recovered through the Amber Alert system, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Black and Missing Foundation also also found that Amber alerts are inexplicably less effective when Black children are missing than for white children."
Yet "stop and frisk" programs targeting blacks -- or any racial profiling -- also has an admiral goal of reducing violence, yet we as a culture have decided, usually albeit less frequently, that racial (often called racist) tactics are unacceptable in our society.
I've dug heavily into missing kid stats -- which aren't easy to untangle -- and the vast, vast majority of all missing kids are runaways, of all races. It's higher among blacks, but I haven't seen any reason to believe that there's somehow a flaw in the Amber Alert system by race. At all.
Finally, not to be a jerk because I enjoy your challenges, but writing "Black children" and "white children" is also another form of racism, recently introduced to us by a media et al that keep doing their best to elevate some colors over others. The growing division hurts us all.
Oh yeah, I agree about the inconsistent capitalization, AP style or not. I just cut and pasted that graf from NBC News.