Thank you for this. Apparently it is indeed a fake/troll-owned account. I have updated my post.
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Edit;
The link to the actual story being shared was obscured;
I happened to live next to the NA elder harassed in the viral video, and I always liked this story from college. Back in 2012 i lived next to a few guys, and one of them was this old indian 'nam vet named Nathan. he lived in a single unit in the upper level of the house IIRC.
Anyways, one day me and two of the guys next door (they were my age) were chillin in the fenced in back yard. This was in Ypsilanti Michigan - near EMU campus and it’d def in the city. We do have back yards tho…not really big but maybe an 8th of an acre? Anyhow Nathan is talking with us about why he’s bummed: he promised this other indian chief that he would put up about a dozen of their horses at a nearby farm just outside ann arbor (town over)…but it had fallen through that day. This chief was bringing 2 dozen indians and about a dozen horse to DC to do a march…and they were coming from like up north (canada? upper pennisula of Michigan?) and needed to rest the horses at this point.
Anyhow I convinced the guys we could TOTALLY house the horses right here in the back yard of their place. But i was kinda drunk and went to bed shortly after. the next day I woke up to the sound of horses! Looooolllll. look out the window and yep a dozen horses and 2 dozen native americans were in the yard of my neighbors. Young neighborhood kids came by throughout the day to see the horses and the native americans were really chill. They only stayed for like a day and half. I remember that the horses ate the shit out of the overgrown grass in the backyard.
My son, leyland, was - I think - 2 and here is a picture of Nathan putting him on a horse. I’ll never forget it. Very kind and very strong person. Imgur: The magic of the Internet
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I am referencing the specific photo above I replied to. I don’t think it is even the “ok” symbol, but even if it was, the “ok” symbol wasn’t used to trolley the libs in 2015. So yes, I am that sure on that specific photo given the date when it comes from.
Is it a DIFFERENT white power symbol? Not that I am aware of, but if you know of a WP gesture that matches, please post a link.
As for OTHER images taken after 2017, then yes, possibly that is their intention. Likely, I’d even say.
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reddit-link in superpunch-link:
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Colonel Angus?
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LOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOL…online historian…LOLOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOL…DECADES…LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL…
No, GTFO David Duke, you ignorant asshole…
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Given that I just saw (while passing by someone else’s computer) how some sites are framing this as “Anti-Trumpists using fake news to discredit kids”, we need to be careful we don’t actually get trapped into doing that.
Again, I am not absolving them. You can see my comments above. I am wary of uncritical acceptance of all the other crap and bullshit floating around, a lot of which has likely been released so they can say “gotcha!” and claim that the entire message is wrong, and “evil libruls” will do anything to hurt Dear Leader and his True Believers. Said True Believers can’t be convinced, but we do ourselves no favours by grabbing onto anything that looks shiny.
If it sounds too good to be true, handle with extreme caution. Now, more than ever, we need good information handling skills: use verifiable sources, or those with a good track record of verifying.
As to the comment above, about the boy who said Sandmann was “just smiling and enjoying the experience,”, funnily enough, that’s exactly whay I see. Only the “experience” is having power over another human being with the knowledge that whatever you say or do, you will face no accountability for, whereas they will suffer grave consequence for doing anything in response. I am sure he is enjoying it.
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and I tried to made a point with the official photo from their website, why it could be indeed a WP-sign. or maybe its really driving trollies but…
why not both?
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I am in no way attempting to defend these kids or these attitudes, but let’s also be correct here.
This would be akin to looking at something with a swastika from 1900 and saying it shows a Nazi symbol, when Nazis were not yet even a thing, much less associated with the swastika in 1900.
Like I said, the fact that the black face in 2015 was “cool” means there is a systemic problem at that school. But in 2015 no racists were throwing up OK signs because it wasn’t even a thing yet.
Because it didn’t exist in 2015. Not as a WP driving trollies symbol.
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By “competing groups” I take it you mean “these guys were having a competition to see who could be the biggest a-holes, and the Native guy interrupted their turn”?
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Obrigado. Thanks.
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are we sure? I read everywhere milo used it in 2015. either way, it seems the alt-right burnend the symbol now more or less for the use it was intended for.
The OK sign now has a few different meaning for people with different levels of meme/media literacy:
those who got the memo (on alt-right association) and now deem it stigma;
those who got the memo and now employ it as a dog-whistle; (and revel in the land of plausible deniability as you put it)
those who didn’t get the memo and continue to use the symbol to mean “it’s okay”;
those who got the memo and saw the diffusion of the sign and now leverage it as a trigger for shock value or device of reappropriation.
I wouldnt be surprised in the slightest if those students at this school would use it as both driving trollies and wp-symbol. it does look like a fuckin gang-sign in that manner. but I stop it now. apologies mate.
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Even with that article, it shows that the hoax may have been more than just 4chan nonsense with things like this:
Either way, the use as a symbol of hate dates back to 2017 and it’s gained a lot of popularity since then as it spread around Twitter and FAcebook and is common enough among Trump supporters that the ADL went from saying “it wasn’t a hate symbol” to “it’s probably not a hate symbol unless a known Trump supporter or known racist is using it” (paraphrasing their 2018 update from their article on the issue).
EDIT
Think of it this way, are these Teens more likely to be on the pulse of Spencer and Milo (who audiences are in their 20s and 30s) or on the pulse of right-wing social media groups which have adopted it?
EDIT2
The history has been filled in a lot on knowyourmeme.com, it’s surprisingly complicated on the association with white supremacy and Trump and 4chan.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ok-symbol-👌
By all appearances it looks like 4chan jumped onto a rising wave of popular use with white supremecists and complicated the whole thing, which explains how quickly things shifted from a troll operation to a bonafide white supremacist symbol. The fact that racist Milo, his racist friend Pizza Party Ben, racist Cernovich, and even more racist Spencer all used the symbol publicly as a part of supporting Trump means the selection of the symbol by 4chan absolutely came from social media savvy white supremacist circles and wasn’t just picked out of a hat.
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It didn’t get traction among the public consciousness until 2017. WAAAAY more common before that was the “circle game” where having someone notice your OK symbol meant you could punch their arm. Hence you can find a lot of people with it in pictures before that. And, you know, as just an OK symbol. Like a thumbs up or a throwing horns.
While Milo was seen doing the OK symbol in 2015, no one thought it meant anything at that point. And when people DO use it, its when they are being photographed, so they can have a smirking inside joke. This kid doesn’t engage with the camera, he doesn’t know it’s there.
So Occam’s Razor suggests the kids is at least racist enough to be cool with 2 class mates in black face, but most likely is just being photographed with his hand in an odd position. Sort of how like you can find people waving that looks like Nazi salute if you freeze frame it at the right time.
But if you want me to acknowledge that it is POSSIBLE this kid was part of the White Power movement, on the forefront of NEW dog whistle racist gestures that later Richard Spencer and others would copy - then sure - it’s POSSIBLE. It’s possible it’s the first time it was used in a racist manner anywhere - the birth of a meme.
Yeah, I refuse to let a tiny number of shit lord racists commandeer the most common hand gesture after the middle finger - and most others agree. Their childish games are exactly like dumb shit people do in high school and middle school where a group decides a certain word or term means something new, as a subtle way to insult others with out the moderators and teachers catching on.
The whole purpose of the HOAX that started this was taking something super common and that you can find just about anyone do and then use it to attack them. Oh look at all these Democrats making the White Power sign - even Obama! Even though including the trollies 99.99% of the time it’s just the OK sign. If society seriously gives it as much weight as actual WP symbols to the point no one uses it - they will just move on to the next thing to “trigger the libs”.
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Yeah, I think you can call it an atmosphere comfortable with casual racism without the hand gestures.
Painting your body black to yell at black people is probably enough, as a basic example.
Outfitting a school trip in MAGA hats and hoodies? That might be an indication too.
And anybody who thinks this Kentucky school is what we should think of as “normal” probably should take a look at their own issues with prejudice.
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I would like to state for clarity that I never said the kid was making an “OK” symbol. That was the Twitter user.
It looks more like a lazy attempt at a “Hail Satan” hand gesture.
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“We could only prove they did five obviously breath-takingly racist things. Sorry for the false alarm.”
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Yeah, sorry, I quoted the twitter and BBS linked it to you. Should I go strip the link out?
