Powerful Hashtag Brilliantly Destroys How the Media Portrays Murdered Black Men

The news: Conflicting accounts of Michael Brown's murder have plagued his death from the beginning.

Image Credit: AP

Witnesses claim one thing: His hands were raised in surrender when a Ferguson police officer gunned him down on Saturday. Yet officials paint him as a violent troublemaker who lunged into a police car and assaulted the officer before fleeing.

Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, says the 18-year-old had just "graduated high school and ... didn't bother nobody," according to CNN.

All this is heartbreaking. But one thing is certain: It helps the killer's case to portray Mike Brown as a villain.

Fortunately, Twitter is having none of it. The Root reports that users have recognized the tactics of the powerful, namely how the media tends to pick the most incriminating or easily misinterpreted victim photos possible when portraying murdered black boys and men.

We saw it with Trayvon Martin. We see it again with Mike Brown.

Image Credit: The Root

Using the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, people are flooding social media with photos mostly likely to fit the "black male as thug" narrative — ones the media would presumably use in case of their demise.

The results are remarkable:

#iftheygunnedmedown which picture would they use? pic.twitter.com/YgSAUC1R8u

— Name Ring BELLS (@Heartbreak_Rell) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown, and I was unarmed, what picture would the media use to create a racialized bias? pic.twitter.com/AolLMfiOJV

— LEFT (@LeftSentThis) August 10, 2014

Yes let's do that: Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? #IfTheyGunnedMeDown pic.twitter.com/Ng0pUlxWhr

— YoungGifted&Black? (@CJ_musick_lawya) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown what picture would they use pic.twitter.com/lJ3k3tT63n

— I Am Who I Am (@King_Ghidorah5) August 11, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown would they use my pic on the left or the right? pic.twitter.com/W3W1EUMXvz

— Not A Walking Target (@_bennythejet) August 10, 2014

What picture would they use #IfTheyGunnedMeDown? Note that I'm holding a simple airsoft gun. pic.twitter.com/lnhdsHTPUm

— I Eat Ass Ketchum (@PokemonyeWest) August 10, 2014

#IftheyGunnedMeDown Which pic the news gonna show? I look fly in both tho pic.twitter.com/FNVdT2aR4F

— Goldman Blacks, MBA (@MandingoRFC) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown which pic would they use? pic.twitter.com/hCaxgDuocm

— KJ (@JonnyProton) August 10, 2014

"@cdiddy513: #IfTheyGunnedMeDown which picture of my friends would they use? pic.twitter.com/bgykxsMvPz"

— Hiroyuki. (@LanceMiles_) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown today what picture would you use America? Where is the justice. pic.twitter.com/birjvOrjzN

— Quinton Jones (@QDOTjones) August 11, 2014

The accuracy behind these pictures #IfTheyGunnedMeDown pic.twitter.com/QyCwJY6iMz

— ?? (@SociaIizing) August 11, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown I have a feeling I know what picture they'd use. pic.twitter.com/A0eUvBqoUP

— Pete Haviland-Eduah (@TheNotoriousPHE) August 11, 2014

Which picture would the media use #iftheygunnedmedown the left or the right? pic.twitter.com/BXGjJFvRco

— Adam SLANDER (@mr_mookie) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown "Will they say I was a sinner or pretend I was a saint ... what's the picture they gon paint" pic.twitter.com/FtnEKFwaGc

— IG: Reallilleeks_ (@RealLilLeeks) August 10, 2014

h/t The Root