I don’t even know where to start with this, it’s a real mess of a story (and a decent bit of journalism explaining it) but basically the recent “Ok” hand gestures made by prominent ALT-Right figures Sputnik reporter Cassandra Fairbanks and Mike Cernovich at the White House that took fire as white supremacist hand gestures has a history…. And their evolution into becoming “white supremacist” hand gestures seems to have been one created as a trolling exercise by troublesome (and some say white supremacist supporting) online group 4Chan.
It seems the roots of the idea came joke claims that Jay Z and Beyoncé making the OK symbols and other shapes was proof of their illuminati membership.
And that through time and 4chan’s /pol/ group a plan was hatched to troll the press and get them to report on the symbol…. AND it seems to have worked.
just two people doing a white power hand gesture in the White House pic.twitter.com/OXlFSGmhN1
— Emma Roller (@emmaroller) April 29, 2017
As the Observer wrote:
Controversy over supposed white-supremacist signaling in the White House flared up this past weekend with mainstream media and social media alike pouring gasoline on the dumpster fire. One problem: It was all a 4chan prank designed to force fact-averse journalists into revealing themselves. And it worked.
Mike Cernovich, the self-described “American nationalist”—and recently credentialed White House correspondent for the alt-right—revealed exclusively to the Observer what the gesture really meant.
It all kicked off this past weekend when Sputnik reporter Cassandra Fairbanks tweeted a photograph of herself and Cernovich making the universal hand sign for “O.K.” in the White House pressroom. That’s all The Independent’s Emily Shugerman needed to publish a piece alleging the “O.K.” hand gesture is a “white power” salute.
But according to Cernovich, “it started off as a joke about Jay Z. He and Beyoncé used to do it, and some said it was an Illuminati symbol. We started doing it as a joke, and it took on a life of its own.”
Know Your Meme’s documentation of the hand signal seems to corroborate Cernovich’s explanation. According to the reference guide for memes, prominent Trump supporters have been making the hand symbol for years.
And keep reading their article here to get the full details.
Now the fact remains, Cernovich is a troll and ALT-Right, American Nationalist, White Supremacist, whatever you want to call him. This symbol has been being used, maybe a joke, for some time by Trump supporting right leaning figures…. Fact remains, they know what they are doing when they throw this symbol and know what reaction it will get.
Agree?
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