#AllLivesDidntMatter: Twitter trend challenges opponents of Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter has proven to be an effective name for the movement now entering its fourth year. However, to answer their opponents who counter with “all lives matter,” the hashtag #AllLivesDidntMatter was used on Twitter. And it went viral.
The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag first appeared in July of 2013, following a jury’s acquittal of George Zimmerman for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Since the beginning, critics of the message have taken issue with what they say is an implication that other lives do not matter. Along with the hashtag #AllLivesMatter, some have used #BlueLivesMatter to defend police, for instance Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed Michael Brown in 2014.
Supporters of Black Lives Matter have now, in an attempt to call the bluff of those using the #AllLivesMatter hashtag, garnered support for their side by using the hashtag #AllLivesDidntMatter, an open invitation to others on Twitter to share examples in history, especially within the US, where minorities were oppressed or abused.
Nearly 180,000 Twitter posts with the #AllLivesDidntMatter tag were sent by early Monday evening. Here is a small sampling:
#AllLivesDidntMatter until white people felt 'endangered' by the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
— syirah #BLM (@heckisthis) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when the U.S. unconstitutionally threw 120,000 Japanese-Americans in internment camps because they "could" be threats.
— Cole Haddon (@colehaddon) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when whites were the illegal immigrants and killed off Native Americans and stripped them of their land
— charizard rae jepsen (@fatandugIy) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when white scientists injected black men in Tuskeegee Alabama with syphilis & didn't tell them pic.twitter.com/AdzJCLSBJm
— Marcellus X (@_Uncensorable) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter WHEN THEY RELEASED THE HOUNDS AND SPRAYED PROTESTORS WITH WATER HOSE IN BIRMINGHAM #BLMpic.twitter.com/iWbXPtE3gc
— TEE REIGN♐️ (@Alaija_1123) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when this guy would not say the word AIDS for nearly a decade after the epidemic began pic.twitter.com/kFEQhCx5PP
— Jack Polakoff (@JackPolakoff) July 11, 2016
#alllivesdidntmatter when y'all made up 10 million excuses as to why syrian refugees couldn't enter your countries
— #1 kimberly hater (@apunkgrl) July 11, 2016
On August 29,2005 Katrina hit New Orleans #AllLivesDidntMatterpic.twitter.com/DgaGiXyi7T
— BYHISGRACE8 (@BYHISGRACE64) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when
— GlitterChild✨ (@AHeauxTepSlayor) July 11, 2016
THIS WHOLE LIST pic.twitter.com/qKslzSs4oT
The topic was also used to point out ongoing or recent conflicts abroad, which have connections to US foreign policy:
#AllLivesDidntMatter when innocent Palestinians were being murdered daily by Israeli soldiers and the media didn't want to talk about it 🐸☕️
— Younis (@YounisArshad1) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter on July 11th, 1995 when 8,372 innocent Bosnian Muslim lives were taken & the whole world stayed silent.
— medina cerić (@medinaceric) July 11, 2016
Meanwhile, others were feeling a bit hashtagged out, calling for more substance over a trending Twitter spat.
#AllLivesDidntMatter Throughout all of humanities history & present. The question is, are you contributing to the trend or seeking change?
— That Guy T (@_ThatGuyT) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter is the stupidest hashtag. STOP creating hashtags and using them for likes / retweets and actually DO something.
— Isaiah Grande (@isaiahhmichael) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter is not helping it's just making it worse. You can't keep saying things and not do the right action
— Noelia. (@noeliagarcia0) July 11, 2016
