Nearly 1 in 3 missing children in the US are Black, driving Pennsylvania and other states to propose ‘Ebony Alerts’ to ensure equal protection and public safety

Black children who go missing are often labeled as runaways, which excludes them from the Amber Alert system.

By: Itay Ravid, Villanova University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: March 13, 2026

Words: 1,375

Last Updated: 4 months, 3 weeks ago

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By Itay Ravid, Villanova University

Nearly one-third of U.S. children reported missing are Black, even though Black people constitute roughly 14% of the U.S. population.

To address one dimension of this problem, Pennsylvania and a few other states, including Alabama and Massachusetts, have in recent years proposed legislation to reform missing child alert systems. Not all missing children cases trigger an Amber Alert – the nationwide emergency alert system for missing …

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