OPINION: Why do only white females go missing?
While my heart aches for those who knew Alexis Rasmussen, a 16-year-old girl who was found dead on Oct. 18 near the Weber River, I can’t help but think of all the others who have not been found, and seemingly, weren’t searched for much to begin with. Not surprisingly, Alexis was a young, attractive white female.
It makes me think about the tack board of fuzzy computer-printed mugshots hanging in Walmart. When I stand in front of the board and contemplate the smiling faces, I wonder where they are. I wonder if they will ever be seen again and which of their family members are still huddled in sobs, even though their loved one has been missing for months, maybe years. On the top-right corner of the board is a Hispanic man, and my assumptions lead me to believe his face was never plastered all over the 5 o’clock news. Perhaps, he is still alive. My eyes wander to a snapshot of a young black girl on the bottom center of the board. Her braids hang from her head, like the curved leaves of a house plant, each clipped with a colorful barrette. I ask myself how many people panicked. I ask myself if the regional news stations brushed over the story as though it was to be expected.
I am not rightly willing to believe every person who goes missing is a young, white woman. Think back with me — Elizabeth Smart, 2002, Natalee Holloway, 2004, Caylee Anthony, 2005, Reigh Boss, 2008, Susan Powell, 2009, and Alexis Rasmussen, 2011. I recall when a beautiful, young college woman from my hometown of Reno, Nev., had her photograph in the city newspaper for months on end. Brianna Denison went missing in January of 2008 and was found dead in a field about one month later. It was literally the only thing that seemed to be important in the news that month — and for good reason. Denison’s beauty was frequently mentioned in quite a few of the articles I read about her.
Now, let’s break down the statistics. Over the past five years, approximately 1 million individuals in the U.S. have gone missing each year — 40 percent are white, 30 percent are black and 20 percent are Hispanic — half of these are male. Mind you, these are rough statistics.
I don’t recall any names of black or Hispanic males that have been reported missing. I don’t recall hearing of complete strangers willing to organize search parties in hopes of bringing them safely home. In reference to a CNN correspondent’s reasoning for this, it’s because the majority of news viewers don’t seem to care.
“The phenomenon is characterized by critics as a short and cynical equation: Pretty, white damsels in distress draw viewers; missing women who are black, Latino, Asian, old, fat or ugly do not,” CNN Correspondent Tom Foreman said in 2006.
I get it. Newspapers are businesses. If no one is reading, money is wasted. Nonetheless, it disgusts me to consider the reality of our shallow and ignorant world. Save beautiful women, and to everyone else, “Good luck.” I understand it is difficult, though, with thousands more individuals missing every day, how each can be brought to the public’s attention. I cry for the American black woman who is kidnapped, who the police give up on so quickly due to racial assumptions.
Each individual is of value, and this is one of the core U.S. principles. It’s brought up again and again, but this certain issue shows a flagrant disregard for the impact of each individual. Do we want to find attractive white females who go missing to ensure we keep the face of our nation beautiful? I don’t understand.
Let us remember Alexis Rasmussen and the tragedy her family has been forced to face, but let us also remember all those who have been lost for days, months and years — those who never come back — all of those whom we have made the decision to forget.