Do Missing Blacks Get Less Media Coverage Than Missing Whites?

A beautiful teenage girl goes missing while on vacation. She's an honor student who was happy at home and has no reason to run away. Sounds familar doesn't it like the recent story of Natalee Holloway. But it isn't her just her story. It's also the story of Phylicia Barnes a young black teenager who went missing while visiting her half-sister in Baltimore, Maryland. But nobody talks about Phylicia. I hadn't even heard of Phylicia until I was reading the May 2011 issue of Ebony magazine. I was so moved by the article that I had to share this story with everyone.
Phylicia Barnes is an honor student who is now 17 (she was 16 when she disappeared) is from Monroe, N.C and was visiting her half-sister in Baltimore, MD when she disappeared from the apartment that she was last seen sleeping in on Dec.28, 2010. Phylicia's parents were divorced and she was visiting family members who she had just recently reunited with. Phylicia's half-sisters Kelly and Deena Barnes both said that they had been texting Phylicia about their afternoon plans but at around 12:30 neither sister got responses from Phylicia. Around 1 pm Deena received a call from her ex-boyfriend to say that he was there at the apartment to move his things and wash his clothes, and that Phylicia was sleeping and that he heard her phone ringing. At 1:30 Deena's ex left the apartment and also around that time Phylicia is said to have left the apartment as well to get her hair cut although I'm not really clear where that came from. The only belongings of hers that were missing were a pair of slipper booties, which those close to Phylicia said she would never wear outdoors, and her cellphone, which has had no activity since she last texted her sisters. Her facebook account has also been inactive. Phylicia's sisters weren't alarmed until about 6 o'clock when nobody had heard from her. Police were summoned as well as police dogs, but Phylicia's scent went cold in the parking lot of the apartment building. Police don't suspect that she is a runaway, but they do suspect foul play. They just don't know whether it's a kidnapping or a homicide.

What's even more upsetting than the disappearance of Phylicia Barnes is the lack of media attention that her disappearance had received. Phylicia's disappearance was so similar to Natalee Holloway and Elizabeth Smart both young white girls whose disappearances were plastered all over every major media outlet. Most media outlets outright refused to even show a picture of Phylicia Barnes. America's Most Wanted gave her a 45 second blur on the television. Although Baltimore Police Department worked hard on Phylicia's case, it's almost impossible to relocate missing people without some type of media coverage. Investigators believe that had she received national coverage they may have gotten more tips. So Phylicia received nearly no media coverage, and the trail went cold.
It's heartbreaking to know that someone so young and with such a bright future can go missing and nobody cared to run a story on her. So many black girls and boys meet the same fate. Often the disappearance's aren't even investigated due to police officers having biased opinions and believing that black children often just run away. Many people have dedicated organizations dedicated to finding missing black people such as Black & Missing (Google it). Hopefully with the exposure that Ebony magazine has given the disappearance of Phylicia Barnes this case, and cases just like here's, will get new information and be re-opened. You can see more information about Phylicia Barnes from the FBI website by clicking here.
 I HOPE YOU DON'T JUST READ THIS BLOG POST, SHAKE YOUR HEAD, AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT. WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE MEDIA DOES NOT CARE ABOUT BLACK GIRLS DISAPPEARING. WE ARE LOSING OUR GEMS TO RAPIST, PEDOPHILES, AND SEX TRAFFIKING.
 DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 GET INVOLVED. LET'S BRING PHYLICIA BARNES AND GIRLS LIKE HER HOME!