by: Marilyn Mayo
August 23, 2016
A “white lives matter” protest that targeted the Houston offices of the NAACP was organized by local leaders of Aryan Renaissance Society (ARS), a small but long-standing white supremacist group.
During the August 21 protest, the ARS symbol, a lightning bolt and a runic symbol, was visible on the group’s “white lives matter” banner and on white shirts worn by some of the dozen or so participants. Their message also included a sign reading “14 words,” a reference to the most popular white supremacist slogan in the world: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."
Aryan Renaissance Society banner
The “white lives matter” mantra originated with white supremacists Ken Zrallack (aka Kevin Harris) of Connecticut and Rebecca Barnette of Tennessee and has since been taken on by other white supremacists. Much of Harris’ activism has been via the Internet while Barnette has attempted to unite the broader white supremacist movement by organizing events such as the April march up Stone Mountain in Georgia and the July “white lives matter” event in Buffalo, New York. Both events were poorly attended, drawing only a handful of participants and hundreds of counter protestors.
The neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement lists “white lives matter” as an organization that is part of the Aryan Nationalist Alliance (ANA), an umbrella group of small white supremacist groups (some with only one member), but the term has been used more broadly as a slogan.
Several Texas ANA-associated groups have announced they are organizing a September 10-11 event in Quinlan, Texas, including the Texas Rebel Knights (a small Quinlan-based Klan), the National Socialist Movement, and a Texas representative for the Traditionalist Workers Party. Members of the Aryan Renaissance Society and “white lives matter” activists are expected to attend.