White Lives Matter (WLM) is a slogan that began to be used in 2015 in a response to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) social justice movement. The White Lives Matter movement was formed by several white supremacist groups, including the Aryan Renaissance Society and the Traditionalist Worker Party. The movement organized several rallies and demonstrations across the United States, including in California, Tennessee, Texas and Florida. It seeks to address racism against White people, and purported claims of white genocide.

The phrase WLM has also been active in the United Kingdom, albeit with a low turnout. On June 22, 2020, as players, with "Black Lives Matter" printed on their shirts in place of their names, were taking the knee before kick off to a Burnley F.C. away match to Manchester City, a plane flew over the Etihad Stadium carrying the banner "White Lives Matter Burnley". The incident was widely condemned by football authorities and anti-racism campaigners, who described the banner as racist and divisive. The next month, the pilot and his wife were both fired from their workplaces for having made racist social media posts. Later in the month, a "White Lives Matter" slogan was etched into a park hillside in Bedworth, England. Police, who were treating it as racially-aggravated criminal damage and a hate crime, were aware of footage on social media appearing to show someone in clothing "resembling a Ku Klux Klan outfit" at the same site. In response to the use of the phrase "White Lives Matter," many individuals and organizations in the UK have emphasized the need to promote inclusivity and equality for all individuals, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or background.

Robert E. Lee statue removal protest

In August 2017, a protest against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in a city park was scheduled to take place in the city of Charlottesville, Virginia. The statue protesters got permission from the city to hold their rally, the counter protesters did not get permission to hold a rally or counter protest.  The counter protesters should have been shut down by the city police since they didn't have a permit. Instead the police got out of the way and allowed the counter protesters to attack the statue removal protesters and the statue protesters defended themselves. The rally turned violent, with clashes between the statue removal protesters and counter-protesters. A woman was killed and dozens were injured when a person drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters 2 1/2 hours later after the original clashes were over and done with. Since then, the use of the phrase "White Lives Matter" has been   condemned as racist by some people and associated with extremist groups. The rally turned violent, with clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters. A woman was killed and dozens were injured when a white supremacist drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters. Since then, the use of the phrase "White Lives Matter" has been widely condemned as racist and associated with extremist groups.

The Nationalist Front was a key organizer of the White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on October 28, 2017. Participating groups included: National Socialist Movement (NSM), Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP), League of the South, Vanguard America, The Right Stuff, and Anti-Communist Action. It was a key rally since the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia (August 11 and 12, 2017). The rally was said by group leaders to address the "ongoing problem of refugee resettlement in Middle Tennessee," failure to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico, the removal of Sudan from the list of countries in the Trump travel ban, fight against the DREAM Act, as well as the Burnette Chapel shooting by Sudanese native Emmanuel Sampson.

The Shelbyville rally took place as scheduled, with about 100 White Lives Matter supporters and about 200 counter-protestors. The afternoon event in Murfreesboro was canceled by the organizers; the authorities estimated that around 800 to 1000 people took part in the anti-racist march and counter-protest. In addition, local community and faith activists organized an off-site rally under the moniker of "Murfreesboro Loves". Hundreds participated in the event in support of refugees and minorities.

White Lives Matter in 2021 
In 2021, another series of nationwide "White Lives Matter" Rallies were held. Notably in Raleigh, North Carolina; Huntington Beach, California; Philadelphia; New York City; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Fort Worth, Texas. These rallies all had little far-right attendance and had thousands of counter-protestors. In April 2021, a rally in Huntington Beach, California, organized by a group called the "White Lives Matter Foundation," drew a small crowd of supporters and a much larger group of counter-protesters. The event remained largely peaceful, but there were some clashes between the two groups and several arrests were made. In May 2021, a similar rally organized by the same group in Raleigh, North Carolina, was canceled due to low turnout and concerns about potential violence. A counter-protest organized by local anti-fascist groups still took place, but it also had a relatively small turnout.

Usage

Kanye West
On October 3, 2022, during his Yeezy SZN 9 fashion show in Paris, Kanye West wore a shirt with the slogan "WHITE LIVES MATTER" written on it, a move described by Forbes as controversial. The front of the shirts have a picture of Pope John Paul II captioned "Juan Pablo II"  Conservative commentator Candace Owens posed for a photo with West wearing a matching shirt with the slogan. He explained his choice in the following way: "At a certain point, it felt like I saw White people wearing shirts that said Black Lives Matter, like, they were doing me such a favor by having a t-shirt that reminded me that my life mattered. Like I didn't already know that. So, I thought I'd return the favor and let White people know, that hey, your life matters, too."

Rotterdam

Election posters
During the 2022 Dutch municipal elections in Rotterdam, stickers containing the untranslated phrase or "traitor" () were put on election posters belonging to the 50Plus, DENK, GroenLinks and PvdA parties. They made a joint statement and filed criminal complaints with the police, who investigated. National party leaders Lilianne Ploumen (PvdA) and Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks) distanced themselves from the texts. The stickers referred to a Telegram group named after the phrase which had spread other stickers in other localities, including one claiming "Race-mixing is white genocide".

Bridge projection
On New Year's Eve 2022-2023, the untranslated phrase was projected onto the Erasmus Bridge, among other racist slogans including the Fourteen Words and "black pete did nothing wrong" (, ). Police believe it was done from a boat. The Public Prosecution Service started an investigation.

World's Indigenous Peoples day
A growing number of White nationalist groups around the world have held an annual White Lives Matter activism which coincides with the United Nations designated International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples observed on 9 August each year. The UK's Patriotic Alternative and New Zealand's Action Zealandia have done this.

Funding 
It is not clear whether the "White Lives Matter" movement as a whole has a centralized funding structure or financial support system.The "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, reportedly received funding from a number of far-right organizations and individuals. Nevertheless, it is not exactly clear which organization and individual have been funding the movement's events. White nationalist and white supremacist groups tend to rely on grassroots fundraising, crowdfunding, and individual donations from supporters to finance their activities.

Involvement with the media 
The "White Lives Matter" movement has received some media coverage, but much of it has been critical and has focused on the movement's ties to white nationalism and white supremacy. Some far-right and white nationalist media outlets have provided sympathetic coverage of the movement. The movement has also attempted to use social media platforms to spread its message and gain support.Social media platforms have taken steps to remove content promoting hate speech, including content related to the "White Lives Matter" movement. Some members of the movement have used social media to organize rallies and events and to promote their ideology. In recent years, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have taken steps to remove content promoting hate speech, including content related to the "White Lives Matter" movement. There are Facebook pages with the same title, that have been active, with no clear agendas about the White Lives matter movement or its purpose.  This has made it more difficult for the movement to reach a wider audience through these channels.

Presently 
As of 2023, the "White Lives Matter" movement continues to exist, but its level of activity and visibility has varied over time. In some cases, individuals or groups associated with the movement have organized protests or rallies, but these events have often been met with counter-protests and have not attracted large numbers of participants. This is because WLM has been associated with several controversies due to its links with white supremacist ideologies and groups. The use of the phrase "White Lives Matter" has been criticized by anti-racism advocates, who argue that the phrase is used to undermine the Black Lives Matter movement and other efforts to promote racial justice and equality, which is believed to propagate violence, discrimination and inequality. 

In some instances, the movement has attempted to capitalize on current events or issues to gain attention and support. For example, in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, some individuals associated with the "White Lives Matter" movement attempted to co-opt the language and symbols of the Black Lives Matter movement to promote their own agenda. However, this effort was widely criticized and did not gain much traction.

Trademark 
"White Lives Matter" trademark is owned by Civic Cipher LLC
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/02/us/white-lives-matter-trademark-reaj/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/04/1133390887/kanye-white-lives-matter-two-black-radio-host-trademark
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/trademark-black-radio-hosts-1.6643450
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-11-03/ye-kanye-west-white-lives-matter-trademark-civic-cipher
https://www.insideedition.com/black-radio-show-host-speaks-out-on-decision-to-own-white-lives-matter-trademark-77841
https://www.tmz.com/2022/11/03/kanye-west-white-lives-matter-shirt-merch-trademark-own-black-men/

References

White nationalism in the United Kingdom
White nationalism in the United States
2010s neologisms
2010s slang
2015 introductions
American political catchphrases
Kanye West
Slogans