BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • Trending

#BBCtrending: "Alive while black"; tales of racism shared online

  • Published
    5 December 2014
Share page
About sharing
A protester in New YorkImage source, Yana Paskova / Getty Images
By BBC Trending
What's popular and why

#AliveWhileBlack is one of the latest hashtags to emerge from US protests over the case of Eric Garner, a black man who died after being put in a chokehold by a white police officer.

Earlier BBC Trending brought you the debate over the hashtag #CrimingWhileWhite - white Americans were using the tag to sharing their stories of unpunished criminal activity, while other twitter users called it patronising and counterproductive.

Now African-Americans are using #AliveWhileBlack, external to tell stories of alleged racial discrimination and profiling at the hands of the police.

"Neighbor called the police to my home. They arrived & handcuffed me before realizing it was me that needed help #AliveWhileBlack," tweeted a teacher in Washington state, external.

‏Ruby Lathon (@RubyL) tweeted, external: "#alivewhileblack SUV full of women leaving bachelorette party. Cops pull us over w/4 guns drawn-we 'fit the profile' of 2 male robbers."

The tag appears to have been started by African-American writer and activist Jamilah Lemieux, external.

"Got raped+robbed. Police took forever to interview me, mentioned that women sometimes lie to hide 'gambling, overspending'," she tweeted, external.

As of posting, the tag had been included in more than 80,000 tweets.

Update by Mike Wendling, external

h/t Jim Todd

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external

All our stories are at bbc.com/trending

Top stories

  • Israeli forces kill 67 Palestinians seeking aid in northern Gaza, Hamas-run ministry says

    • Published
      1 hour ago
  • Sewage discharges to halve by 2030, minister pledges

    • Published
      1 hour ago
  • Japan's PM vows to stay on despite bruising exit poll

    • Published
      1 hour ago

More to explore

  • How the rise of green tech is feeding another environmental crisis

    Two treated images of Salar de Atacama and a electric car charging
  • Are we willing to drop cash Isas and take more risks with our money?

    Young woman sits on the couch with her feet up, coffee cup in hand, checking performance of shares on a laptop.
  • Should school summer holidays be shorter?

    Three girls carrying school bags walk in a park with their backs to the camera
  • Members only: India's rich and famous ditch old-school clubs for exclusive hangouts

    Close shot of hands of two people holding cocktails and toasting
  • Parked in lay-bys - the drivers determined to avoid airport drop-off fees

    Caroline O'Brien sitting in her car looking directly at the camera. She is wearing a blue top. She is visible from the shoulders up and is sitting in the driver's seat with the steering wheel in front of her. There is a road and foliage in the background.
  • High on snus in school: The hidden nicotine pouches shredding teens' gums

    A man shows the camera a small container of nicotine pouches, which look like very small pillows. He is wearing a blue button-down shirt and standing outside.
  • Fantastic Four and Pokémon Presents: What's coming up this week?

    A stylised image of the Fantastic Four (on the left) and Pikachu (on the right)
  • 'Gangsta Debbs' - the granny who used her family to run an £80m drug empire

    Deborah Mason, a woman with white hair and wearing dark rimmed glasses. She is standing against a white background and wearing a green, white and black patterned top
  • News Daily: Our flagship daily newsletter delivered to your inbox first thing, with all the latest headlines

    A promo promoting the News Daily newsletter - a graphic of an orange sphere with two concentric crescent shapes around it in a red-orange gradient, like a sound wave.
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Performer unfurls Palestinian flag on Royal Opera House stage

  2. 2

    Police launch underwater search for missing woman

  3. 3

    Reform councillors obstructed by officials, Farage says

  4. 4

    England call in police over racist abuse of Carter

    • Attribution
      Sport
  5. 5

    How the rise of green tech is feeding another environmental crisis

  6. 6

    Parked in lay-bys - the drivers determined to avoid airport drop-off fees

  7. 7

    Four remain in hospital after school coach crash

  8. 8

    US tech CEO resigns after Coldplay concert embrace goes viral

  9. 9

    Japan's PM vows to stay on despite bruising exit poll

  10. 10

    Israeli forces kill 67 Palestinians seeking aid in northern Gaza, Hamas-run ministry says

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Martin Scarsden faces a new mystery

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Scrublands S2
  • Sinister events in an old Spanish town

    • Attribution
      Sounds
    Uncanny: Summer Specials
  • Ghosts US returns for series 4

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Ghosts US S4
  • What does it take to build the perfect athlete?

    • Attribution
      Sounds
    The Infinite Monkey Cage
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.