In this op-ed, Ernest Owens argues that we must believe Black women and prioritize their safety, despite Carlee Russell's lies.
On Monday, Carlee Russell confessed that she made it all up.
Russell went missing on July 13 after calling 911 to report seeing a toddler wandering on the side of an Alabama highway. She returned home after 49 hours and a widespread search, according to CNN, and now, she’s coming clean. No, she didn’t see a child on the highway. No, she wasn’t kidnapped. It was all a hoax that alarmed the country and wasted precious resources.
“My client apologizes for her actions to this community, to the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies as well,” wrote Russell’s attorney in a statement that was read by Hoover Police Chief Nicholas C. Derzis during a press conference.
On social media, news that Russell lied triggered immediate backlash. Many who initially rallied behind finding Russell quickly spoke out against her. I cannot count how many times I saw people on Twitter posting that they were “taking back” their prayers for Russell. There were memes online mocking Russell and comparing her to actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted of making false statements to police after planning a hoax in 2019.
Smollett was sentenced to jail time after he claimed he was the victim of a hate crime, triggering a police investigation and soliciting widespread concern and support, just like Russell. Just like Smollett, Russell’s hoax hit a nerve with so many because of the real life impact. Black queer people in America are still facing legitimate hate crimes. And, even though Russell lied about being kidnapped, Black girls and women go missing all the time and rarely get such public attention.
According to the National Crime Information Center, 268,884 women were reported missing in 2020 – with more than 90,000 of those being Black women and girls. This is particularly alarming given that, although Black women make up less than 15% of the United States female population, they make up more than one-third of all missing women reported, as U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly pointed out in an op-ed for the Chicago Sun Times in response to the country’s captivation with the disappearance of Gabby Petito, a young white woman.
While Kelly said she was devastated by Petito’s death, she pointed out an inequity: “For Black families, however, Gabby’s story was a reminder that the media and the public are not captivated by the stories of our missing daughters. There is no national search, nor an evening news special. The coverage we receive will quickly fade away, and the families of our missing will continue their search alone.”
In 2016, legal scholar Zach Sommers published research on the race and gender disparities in the missing people covered by the media. This disparity is often called “Missing White Woman Syndrome,” a term coined by journalist Gwen Ifill. In his analysis, Sommers found that unlike other counterparts, Black people who had gone missing garnered less coverage than those who were white. And, the intensity of the coverage was often greater than that of the missing Black women who do get media attention, according to his research.
It’s easy to understand why Russell’s lie was so hurtful to those in her community. In a society where Black women are already often not believed, and where missing Black women don’t often get the outrage and attention they deserve, it must have felt like the ultimate betrayal for her to get the attention that so many who look like her have been denied. And in such a precarious position, it’s easy to fear that Russell’s lie is somehow a setback that may contribute even further to the dismissal and deprioritization of Black women overall.
But, we shouldn’t have to live in a world where the actions of one woman threaten the way we protect and value all those who look like her. Two things can be true: Carlee Russell lied, and there are thousands of missing Black women who need our attention.
Let’s call out the racial and gender double standards real quick: How many times have white people, cis-het people, and men screwed up and not had it ruin the support they collectively deserve elsewhere? Hollywood hasn’t placed a moratorium on male producers after Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behavior. White women didn’t face an erosion of trust after Carolyn Bryant Donham lied about Emmitt Till assaulting her, which led to his violent murder.
Carlee Russell is simply one person who did a horrible thing — to scapegoat her as the reason for you to no longer believe Black women or hesitate to advocate for them again is a prime example of misogynoir. Would you keep that same energy for the aforementioned producers or white women?
What’s needed now more than ever is a refocus on the many Black women still missing in this country. Imagine how transformative that could be in helping to remedy the crisis of missing Black women? Instead of turning our backs even more on Black women because of the actions of one, let’s take the conversation she started and use it for good.
We can turn to the insightful podcast Black Girl Missing, hosted by Black women advocates Feminista Jones, Niki Irene, and Asa Todd. On their show, they put a name and story behind the missing Black women who don’t get the proper coverage compared to their white counterparts. And, we can say the names of the many missing Black women like Tiffany Nicole Foster, Khiara Henry, and the many more that the website Our Black Girls spotlights. It’s a shame that it took a scandal for mainstream media outlets to keep the conversation going – but now that we’ve arrived, let’s not look back.
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