As of now a body has been found matching the description of Gabby Petito although DNA results are still pending so nothing has been confirmed yet. However, her boyfriend Brian Laundrie is still in hiding and on the run. We have seen this same story played out time and time again, so if it ends in the usual way no one would be surprised as all signs are pointing in that direction and continue to do so. This is why I will be writing as if the body is 100 percent Gabby and Brian did it if for nothing more than brevity's sake. Just assume for now everything is alleged because I hate prefacing every single thought or sentence with any number of "now I'm not saying this is true", "IF it was true", "allegedly!"....you get the picture.
In short, Missing White Woman Syndrome refers to the incredible outpouring of support, resources, and media coverage white women tend to get compared to black women or other women of color. Whenever there is a case like Gabby's and I go on social media I see a Not My Problem type of post by people that always concerns me. Those asking why we should care at all about this one white woman when there are so many missing women of color who do not get this type of media coverage or search effort. Or worse, not caring if the suspect is even apprehended because they are white or the crime was against a white woman.
And I completely understand where they are coming from. I mainly agree with them too, because those other missing women are also worthy of these search efforts and coverage.
What makes me so upset about these posts is the lack of class consciousness. This apathy is brought on as a side effect by the racism that permeates our society and it puts all women at risk.
What is it about Gabby's death that keeps WOC safe? What is it about a white woman's death going without justice that makes you not worry for your wife, daughter, sister, ect.? Let's say Brian did it and let's say he gets away with it. If you want to pretend he just doesn't go to jail or he's successful in hiding and changing his identity so he can continue living a normal life, I don't care. Nothing we have seen so far indicates that Brian is racist or would stay out of a relationship with a WOC. This murderer and abuser of women is still out there. We saw how jovial he was with the police in the body cam clip. We saw how agreeable he could present himself as. If he gets into a relationship with a WOC they could be the next Gabby...and they most likely will not get as much media coverage or justice and he could go free yet again. Or maybe he won't kill her. Maybe he will just beat her and abuse her. Do you want that for your relative or friend?
This brings me to my next point which is the inverse of this.
What is it about a dead WOC that keeps white women safe? What is it about their perpetrators killing them that makes you think it couldn't be your white family member? In cases of serial killers WOC and sex workers are some of the first victims they basically experiment their killings on because our society sees them as the "less dead". It is only when the body count gets too high to ignore or includes a white woman, or one with a "respectable" social status, that they start seriously getting looked into and actual efforts are made. Don't you think, or really understand, that if efforts were made from that first woman then the white woman's death that kicked off an actual investigation would have been prevented? Are you really ok with their deaths, beatings, and rapes not getting justice knowing that their murderers and abusers are still walking around among us?
Protecting WOC will protect white women. Justice for Gabby can be justice for a WOC but it's not true justice if it's only white women getting coverage and found and rescued.
These missing women deserve to be put to rest or freed just as much as Gabby. Their families deserve peace and closure just as much as hers.
When it comes to finding justice for women and protecting women and girls we must be in for a penny and in for a pound. We have to open our eyes and hearts and brains. We have to start caring about missing black and brown women and girls just as much as we do white women.
We have to start caring about women as a whole.