The prickly issue regarding the conspicuous lack of attention and resources paid to missing persons of color was catapulted back to the forefront after MSNBC’s Joy Reid fired off about the Gabby Petito homicide.
Reid, the host of the “ReidOut” show, complained bitterly about the nonstop search and government assets appropriated to finding a single White woman when thousands of missing Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans go virtually unnoticed all the time.
“The way this story captivated the nation has many wondering, why not the same media attention when people of color go missing?” Reid said on the night of Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021.
“Well, the answer actually has a name: Missing White Woman Syndrome—the term coined by the late and great Gwen Ifill to describe the media and public fascination with missing white women like Laci Peterson or Natalee Holloway, while ignoring cases involving people of color.”
.@GreyBull4WY and @DerricaWilson join #TheReidOut to discuss the disparities in media coverage of missing persons. #reiders pic.twitter.com/DZuz2gNBAN
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) September 20, 2021
Reid also referenced the case of geologist Daniel Robinson, a 24-year-old Black man who went missing in Buckeye, Arizona, a 35-mile drive west of Phoenix, in July 2021. His frantic father, David Robinson, ripped into the local police department in a scathing GoFundMe letter begging for help in locating his son.
Robinson said he has done more as one person to find his son than the entire department. Furthermore, Robinson added in the letter:
“We have done a total of seven searches that have recovered the remains of about six people, hopefully bringing closure to other families. My public searches are coming to their completion, and the Buckeye Police Department has a responsibility to continue,” he said. “This petition will ensure that this happens.”
Reid’s detractors, and there are many, excoriated her for using the death of one woman to make her point about others.
Imagine using this poor young girl who was brutally murdered to gripe about identity politics and play victim. #JoyReid is a low IQ race hustler. #gabbypettito https://t.co/38D06UalyF
— 🐊Autonomous Allison Zone🐊 (@AutonomousAllie) September 21, 2021
And once again #JoyReid shows that she is truly a racist. It's disgusting and her produces should take her off the air. #MSNBC's Joy Reid dismisses focus on Gabby Petito case as 'missing White woman syndrome' https://t.co/r9ugZoXjYO #FoxNews
— Rocky DE, FR, HL, HN, HT, SV, NI, QA, AF, IQ, IE (@UncleRocky1) September 21, 2021
https://twitter.com/Cryptol06889142/status/1440366706996629507
https://twitter.com/Minniepearl88/status/1440428832629002245
