In the days following the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Alva Braziel and five Dallas police officers, the Black Lives Matter movement has inspired many to advocate for structural change that respects the lives and bodies of Black people. As has historically been the case, those who don’t support the movement have rushed in to espouse a false either/or proposition via the hashtag #AllLivesMatter (and of course #BlueLivesMatter and #WhiteLivesMatter).
So in true 2016 fashion, Twitter users hopped on their feeds to make it clear why saying “All Lives Matter” furthers this nation’s habit of othering its citizens of color. Here are just some of the tweets that had us glued to the trending #AllLivesDidntMatter hashtag yesterday (July 11) and this morning.
#AllLivesDidntMatter When my ancestors got that involuntary boat ride from Africa
— Monica Roberts (@TransGriot) July 12, 2016
On August 29,2005 Katrina hit New Orleans #AllLivesDidntMatter pic.twitter.com/DgaGiXyi7T
— BYHISGRACE8 (@BYHISGRACE64) July 11, 2016
Think about that #AllLivesDidntMatter pic.twitter.com/duXCq2rv27
— Churchboy (@churchboy27) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when you blamed #SandraBland for her death because she dared to answer the questions of an overly aggressive cop.
— (((RuggedAmethyst))) (@GrooveSDC) July 12, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when cops pulled a drive by on a 12 year old Tamir Rice playing in a park, then tried to blame him for his own death
— Almond Brown (@HollaBlackGirl) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when Native Americans were raped, pillaged and forced from their homes
— Dick Tiger (@frankwilheel) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when the people of Flint, Michigan didn’t have any water to drink and are still bathing with bottled water!
— Jerome Trammel (@MrJeromeTrammel) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when people were grieving hard for a gorilla but when it comes to innocent blacks killed by police brutality, crickets
— WAVE$ (@ronniewaves) July 11, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when you still refer to people coming to your country for a better life as "aliens" and "illegals"
— Allison (@allisonlmack) 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 were pouring money into mass incarceration instead of public education in poor neighborhoods
— 28 savage (@OGSavTyrell) July 8, 2016
#AllLivesDidntMatter when this child left his mother to visit their relatives and was returned to her like this pic.twitter.com/G6CE5ZilhC
— ❄️✨ (@TyStephaun) July 11, 2016