Using the mirror hashtags, #CrimingWhileWhite and #AliveWhileBlack, both white and black Twitter users are denouncing the two recent grand jury rulings not to indict either of the two white police officers who have in recent times killed a couple of unarmed black men - Eric Garner and Michael Brown.
The mostly American users are speaking out on what they see as racial double standards in police law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
The two hashtags have been trending since yesterday when a Staten Island grand jury refused to indict a white New York police officer in the death of Eric Garner, read here. Garner died after being held in a chokehold by officer Daniel Pantaleo even though he had cried out that he couldn't breathe. He was unarmed and had been detained for illegally selling cigarettes on the street.
Protests broke out in several cities across America, including New York and Seattle, after the announcement of the grand jury's decision not to criminally charge Pantaleo. At the same time, several hashtags began to trend on Twitter including #CrimingWhileWhite and #AliveWhileBlack.
#CrimingWhileWhite was used by White Twitter to confess to crimes they say they committed and got away with.
It was started by Jason Ross, a writer for The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon who shared his own police run-in and then called on others to share theirs, while he RTed the tweets.
Busted 4 larceny at 11. At 17, cited for booze + caught w gun @ school. No one called me a thug. Can't recommend being white highly enough.
— Jason Ross (@jasonjross) December 3, 2014Yeah, but I can tell you're a good kid. Just something about you. Go have fun, now.
— Jason Ross (@jasonjross) December 3, 2014BTW, I'm not boasting. That record is (or was) sealed and I hoped never to contend w/ it again. But for fuck's sake.
— Jason Ross (@jasonjross) December 3, 2014OTHER WHITE PEOPLE: Tweet your stories of under-punished f-ups! It's embarrassing but important! Let's get #CrimingWhileWhite trending!
— Jason Ross (@jasonjross) December 3, 2014Soon after that hashtag went viral, African Americans used #AliveWhileBlack and #NotCrimingWhileBlack to speak out on the shoddy treatment they receive in any interaction with police.
Check out some of the tweets below...
My 13yo son and his friends were loitering at Walgreens recently. Only his black friend got searched for shoplifting. ~ #CrimingWhileWhite ~
— Dave Hoover (@davehoover) December 4, 2014Cops tried to tie me to a brawl at MSG in NYC. Kept asking "Where did you watch the game?" I said "I don't watch sports." #AliveWhileBlack
— Elon James White (@elonjames) December 4, 2014At 13 I stole a car with my friends & drove it 2wks before we got busted. Only one charged was black. #CrimingWhileWhite
— Cecily Kellogg (@Cecilyk) December 4, 2014At 21 I was pulled over for a DUI. Should have gone to jail. Instead he followed me home to make sure I got there safely. #crimingwhilewhite
— Stefanie Mullen (@ooph) December 4, 2014#NotCrimingWhileBlack I was running for a bus in a predominantly white area. Cop pulls me over and ask, "Why are u running from me?"
— Devin Kelley (@dekelley1) December 4, 2014I shoplifted when I was 14 and they let me go because my parents came down and we "looked like a nice family." #crimingwhilewhite
— Joel Watson (@hijinksensue) December 4, 2014Shot 72 people and killed 12 in a movie theatre and was subdued and arrested unharmed. 🐸☕️ #CrimingWhileWhite pic.twitter.com/E10H7esPhF
— Nate Ogborn (@nateog91) December 4, 2014The reason we were pulled over? Because there were five of us in the car. #AliveWhileBlack
— Shireen Mitchell (@digitalsista) December 4, 2014caught smoking weed on private property, lied repeatedly to cops, they found an oz in my car, told me to drive home slow #CrimingWhileWhite
— billy corgan (@UncleNatie) December 3, 2014This one time I got pulled over.. the first thing the cop said was "where are the guns?" #AliveWhileBlack
— O (@BlameOtis) December 4, 2014Age 17: I bought gas but forgot to pay; an hour later I came back and they said they told the cops two black men did it. #CrimingWhileWhite
— Jacob Harold (@jacobcharold) December 4, 2014Consistently being stopped by police because you "fit the description". #AliveWhileBlack
— ✨✨ (@HarlemCam) December 4, 2014Only black student in my AP Govt class in HS. A new sub looks up and asks if I'm in the right room before callin role #Alivewhileblack
— Foxy Brown (@MissCocoChantal) December 4, 2014
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