A California woman was baffled by a coworker’s completely out of touch attitude toward a special type of Amber Alert. According to her, they received a notification for an Ebony Alert during work hours. This coworker took the time to explain why these alerts exist and play an important role in the lives of black families.
Butta (@sheabutterpro) says that she received an Ebony Alert for a missing child while at work. If you’re not familiar, these emergency alerts exist to notify those in California that there is a missing black youth or young adult. It works similarly to the Amber Alert system and is vital to black families within the state. Racial disparities existed for years that didn’t take missing black children seriously. Because of this, Ebony Alerts were enacted in 2024. Unfortunately, Butta’s coworker was unaware of these alerts and had some concerning questions.
According to Butta, her white coworker asked her, “What’s an Ebony Alert?” Butta took the time to explain to her that it was an alert for a missing black child. Her coworker was baffled, wondering why they didn’t just use a regular Amber Alert for the child. Butta explained that “black children go missing at a disproportionate rate,” and this is why these alerts exist. Butta’s coworker failed to understand, asking, “Why does it always have to be something different?”
According to Butta, her confused and out of touch coworker kept things going, asking, “Why does it have to be the Ebony Alert? If that’s the case, then I guess that there should be a Hispanic Alert and there should be an Asian Alert.” Butta said nothing other than, “I don’t know; I’m black. We have an Ebony Alert for our children when they go missing.” She left it at that. Butta was clearly feeling fatigued by the entire conversation and lack of understanding for the system’s existence.
The video sparked attention from various commenters, some of whom first discovered the existence of this system through Butta’s video. One commenter mentioned, “I’m on the East Coast. I never heard of the Ebony Alert but I just researched it and it needs to be nationwide, not just Cali.” Another commenter asked, “Is she mad about Silver Alerts for older people?”
One commenter stated, “I’m so glad they have an Ebony Alert. The stats are so sad, though!” But one commenter claimed that they don’t necessarily agree with the system. They commented, “Separate alerts to me seems like… We go find our own people… And y’all go find your own people.” Commenters continue to share their opinions and discuss the system and its importance on Butta’s video.
