WASHINGTON — The protests over the recent non-indictments in the killing of
unarmed black men by white policemen in New York City and in Ferguson,
Missouri, have taken on a digital dimension.
The hashtag #CrimingWhileWhite, seemingly a takeoff on the concept of “driving
while black,” began trending on Twitter Wednesday. While some of the tweets
with the hashtag document crimes committed by white people who were neither
shot or killed by the police, perhaps the most powerful tweets are confessions
by white people of crimes they got away with, or at least weren’t roughed up
for.
As The Washington Post says,
it’s Twitter, so there’s no telling for sure whether the confessions are for
real. But it’s highly doubtful they’re all fake, and some are eye-popping.
Click on the image to see a full pinboard of tweets:
In seeming response Thursday night, the hashtag #AliveWhileBlack is providing contrast. Some examples:
white student's dad refused to let me in my own dorm b/c he didn't believe i attended #GWU. "you can't come in!" he yelled #alivewhileblack
— eBae (@audacityofDOPE_) December 4, 2014
Got raped+robbed. Police took forever to interview me, mentioned that women sometimes lie to hide "gambling, overspending" #AliveWhileBlack
— Jamilah Lemieux (@JamilahLemieux) December 4, 2014
My HS teacher told me my college choices were too prestigious. When I got into all 13 she said it was only bc I'm black #alivewhileblack
— Taylor Henderson (@Taylorr_Tottt) December 5, 2014
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