After a group of #BlackLivesMatter protesters disrupted Democratic candidates Gov. Martin O’Malley (MD) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) at Netroots Nation 2015 on Saturday, some activists took to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction with Sanders’ response.

By Sunday afternoon, the hashtag #BernieSoBlack was trending, with progressives trading barbs on Twitter and accusing each other of racism, character assassination, censorship, “whitesplaining” and more.

It began as a way of mocking the candidate while trading cultural signifiers.

Pretty sure Bernie played spades with Stokely Carmichael at a Jackson 5 concert once. @rodimusprime

— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he had a Maxima in the '90s and he co-produced Jodeci's first three albums.

— Rugged Amethyst (@GrooveSDC) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he playin' cowbell on #GotToGiveItUp

— Questlove Gomez (@questlove) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he showed Africa Bambatta how to look for the perfect beat.

— Torchy Brown (@MinoWarrior) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack I saw him pulled over with his hands up by the side of the road, surrounded by cop cars because he had a broken tail light.

— Jade Helms Deep (@eclecticbrotha) July 19, 2015

He was the first one to put plastic on the good furniture #berniesoblack

— TheseLegs (@TheseLegs) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he's Rachel Dolezal's grandfather.

— Just Me. (@NoThoughtsHere) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he was an extra in Coming to America, The Color Purple, and Love Jones.

— Lemu (@thashadow) July 19, 2015

But then some progressives began to point out some of the real work Sanders has done for racial progress in this country.

#BernieSoBlack that he was one of the first people to endorse Jesse Jackson for POTUS in 1988 https://t.co/nwSp8S7rIi

— YeaYouRite (@YeaYouRite) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he wants you to have a university education without #studentdebt //t.co/XADDKRy4dL

— grimwomyn (@grimwomyn) July 19, 2015

Instead of attacking the guy who fought for Civil rights with #BernieSoBlack we should be tweeting #HillaryDidntMarch pic.twitter.com/J2LvSYafj0

— Bipartisan Report (@Bipartisanism) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack at #NetRoots he was like – I've been fighting inequality before you were born – I got this. pic.twitter.com/0l9fpiMRNr

— Jason Gregory (@jgrevolucion) July 19, 2015

He fought "tough on crime" policies & mass incarceration before it was cool, not cuz #BernieSoBlack, cuz he's so red:https://t.co/qlaBntdF4s

— Peter Joseph (@ThePublicArena) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he had his supporters donate to Charleston church, and not him. //t.co/tFIJSER8zm

— 1,2,3 (@123theband) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he's the first presidential candidate to #SayHerName https://t.co/I3tH5AmetS

— TMI w/ Aldous Tyler (@TMIwithAldous) July 19, 2015

And then the usual tears and recriminations followed.

#BernieSoBlack This hashtag has folks doing the work of MSM smear. Got folks teasing the 1 candidate who's known to have ever given a damn.

— Kimberly Skipper (@kdskipper) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he's like 50 shades of grey pic.twitter.com/6z1gN1O3fn

— joshingstern (@joshingstern) July 19, 2015

If you show up in #BernieSoBlack to derail it or shut it down instead of listening, you're proving our point.

— Jade Helms Deep (@eclecticbrotha) July 19, 2015

That's why #BernieSoBlack is trending. Because "Bernie marched w/ MLK" rings as hollow as "I have a Black friend." That was 40 yrs ago, fam.

— April (@ReignOfApril) July 19, 2015

The #BernieSoBlack hashtag is proof that #BlackLivesMatter is not organized and has no vision about how to engage to get real change

— YeaYouRite (@YeaYouRite) July 19, 2015

I won't apologize because you EXPECT black folks to usher in your candidate, no questions asked. #BernieSoBlack https://t.co/GF8mzRzmG1

— Leigh (@RichieLeigh) July 19, 2015

While others just had fun with it.

#BernieSoBlack his wife passed Precious the bucket of fried chicken at M & G Diner in Harlem. pic.twitter.com/2F9jASsiiH

— eri (@eri_cyrus) July 19, 2015

The saying is actually "The blacker the Bernie the sweeter the juice." #BernieSoBlack

— William K. Wolfrum (@Wolfrum) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack people ask for his potato salad recipe. Bernie just shrugs. "A little of this, a little of that…"

— Joseph Nobles (@BoloBoffin) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he gave Ron Karenga the idea for Kwanzaa.

— Torchy Brown (@MinoWarrior) July 19, 2015

#BernieSoBlack he's deliberately losing his hair so people will stop asking if they can touch it.

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) July 19, 2015

Trying to come up with a good #BernieSoBlack joke pic.twitter.com/SCFiTEDehj

— Ian! (@iboudreau) July 19, 2015