As the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement gained worldwide traction after the unlawful murder of George Floyd, such high visibility protests inevitably received backlash in the more discriminatory corners of society. For every group of people who supported the movement and its call for justice for black individuals, there was at least one (ignorant) person who opposed the movement, believing its focus on black lives to somehow discount other lives, specifically those of white people.
Opposing movements sprouted up, with their rallying cries ranging from tired refrains of “All Lives Matter” to the less inclusive “White Lives Matter.” One man from Pennsylvania attempted to celebrate the latter phrase by spray-painting “White Lives Matter” on his fence, but suffered from a grievous lack of intelligence (Who would have thought?) and spelling proficiency, writing “Wighte Lives Matter” instead.
All the while, this odious misspelling and attempted declaration of misguided activism was captured on camera by the man’s neighbour, 20-year-old RaShawn Hicks, who uploaded the video to TikTok where it gained 500,000 views and newfound viral status – for all the wrong reasons.
@rdhicks1999 ♬ original sound – RaShawn Hicks
The absurdity of the video is palpable; Hicks can be heard hysterically giggling, with his family saying “This cannot be real.” Perhaps the failed paint-job was an amateur art mural, in which the artist intentionally misspelt “White” in order to make some sort of political commentary? Or maybe the man was simply trying to campaign for the lives of “wights”, the monstrous villains from the YA fantasy series Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children? Even then, it would be mispelled – there’s an extra ‘e’.
Viewers on TikTok were quick to comment on the viral video, with comments wholeheartedly tearing into the failed spelling of “white”: “Damn, times is hard for white people out there”; “As a wighte person. We do not claim them.” Other comments spotted another potential mistake on the fence mural, noting that the way in which the man wrote the “v” in “lives” made it look more like an ode to a fruit than a political declaration of white importance, sardonically commenting, “Finally! Someone is standing up for white limes! This is a movement I can get behind!”
But jokes aside, there is a very simple and realistic explanation for the motives behind the misspelt fence mural. Racism, in its most visible and ignorant form. The Western world’s colonial history has entrenched a sense of smug superiority in white individuals, made them believe that they are somehow superior to others. Now that times are changing, and black lives are at the forefront of justice movements, certain people are unhappy at being forced to dismantle a historical privilege.
If you would rather see a successful political mural which highlights a community who is actually marginalised, click here to read about the Black Lives Matter mural which can be seen from space.
