U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy should be congratulated for urging the Coast Guard to continue its search for Palm Beach County teenagers Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen. Though the search has officially been called off, urging authorities to go the extra mile to save children is the right thing to do.
"I have a simple message for the Coast Guard: Keep looking," Murphy said. "... I urge the Coast Guard in the strongest possible terms to continue searching until our boys are found.”
I only wish Murphy's impassioned statement didn't sound so much like political opportunism.
This Democratic candidate for Senate who is now a congressman in the southern portion of the boys' district "discovers" the 14-year-olds, missing for a week, after CNN, The Today Show, The New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today have all been in Palm Beach County to report the story. A campaign manager's dream.
I'm sorry, Congressman Murphy, but I'm wondering where your concern is for the media-forgotten Ronequa Neal, age 17, a black female missing from Fort Pierce since June 26.
And Helena Roberts, age 15, a black female missing from Palm Beach Gardens since May 23.
And Stephanie Chavez, age 19, a Hispanic female who disappeared from Palm Beach Gardens Feb. 8.
I'm wondering if you stopped to consider looking deeper at American society and seeing other missing persons, other victims of injustice who go unrecognized? If you want my vote, I need to know the answer to this question.
Do you know the #BlackLivesMatter movement, co-founded by three women, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi? Do you know the story of Sandra Bland, an African-American woman found dead in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas, on July 13?
Sandra Bland is one of an increasing number of black women who have succumbed to police brutality in recent years. Did she really hang herself? Do we know why she died? Congressman Murphy, if you want my vote, I want to hear you #SayHerName.
Yes, the story of Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen is tragic, and we all pray for these boys.
But the families of Ronequa Neal, Helena Roberts and Stephanie Chavez -- all in your district -- are crying, too. They also want to know what happened to their loved ones. Have the searches been called off? Did you tell authorities to keep looking for them with the same ring of authority as you did in your message to the Coast Guard?
Don't these lives matter, too?
Congressman Murphy, black women, minority women need to know you care about their children, too. Are you going to go to bat for them? You want to be our senator. But will you be a senator who recognizes the value only of a white life?
If you care, now is the time to show us.
Leslie Wimes is president and founder of Women on the Move and the Democratic African American Women Caucus, www.daawc.com. She lives in Palm Beach County.
