Hate is a poison that seems to find its way into every part of our culture. With the rise of social media in the new millennium and the election of Donald Trump in 2016, hate groups have been able to achieve a concerning level of mainstream success.
But still, regular people are turned off by traditional symbols of hate. So as a part of their larger strategy to try to influence more moderate conservatives, white supremacists have used dog whistles- messages using words, phrases, or symbols commonly known in their communities but not in the mainstream- to communicate with one another. When outsiders pick up on these covert messages, the hate groups can continue to push their message of “liberal hysteria” that works wonders on moving moderates further to the right.
One such symbol has been especially effective at this, and it is because it was specifically designed to create the hysteria from which they benefit. This symbol is the OK sign.
Let’s first understand what a hate symbol actually is. To determine whether something is a hate symbol, there’s a good question to ask: Is the symbol widely used by hate groups to attempt to further their common political agenda?
There tend to be two main types of hate symbols, although there is a whole spectrum in between. First are overt hate symbols, symbols that are well known and can be identified by the apolitical. The prime example is the swastika. Many apolitical believe that overt hate symbols are the only type, when in reality they are only the tip of the iceberg.
These symbols can be extremely effective in some circumstances. For example, they can be used to easily rally those already radicalized. They provoke very strong reactions out of almost everyone by their pure existence. But because of this, they’re also weak in recruiting moderates to fight for their cause.
The second type of hate symbols are covert hate symbols, also known as dog whistles. This is how modern day white supremacists actually communicate with one another, and they come with lots of benefits for them. For one, it’s a good way to ensure that most of their fellow white supremacists understand what they’re talking about, but the uninformed public stays ignorant.
One great example of a dog whistle is the protection of “ancestry”. The idea of “ancestry” is benign in most circumstances, but in some it can refer to the supremacy of a particular racial group. Although it isn’t a visual symbol, the idea is the same: to rally fellow white supremacists and not offend everyone else.
Of course, after a while, others outside these hate groups can learn about the covert symbols and terminology and call it out. A dog whistle loses its value to hate groups once it is commonly known among both sides of the political spectrum. So once others, typically those on the left, begin to learn about these symbols, hate groups either abandon the symbol or use it to stoke division. They claim that anyone who identifies these symbols as hateful are hysterical liberals. By expanding those who agree with them by aligning themselves with moderate conservatives, hate groups can radicalize outsiders a little more.
This tends to happen after a symbol’s creation, but an idea emerged in the alt-right in 2017: to weaponize a hate symbol.
And it worked, beginning with a 4-chan post titled “INTRODUCING O-KKK”. The plan was to impersonate liberals and begin a fake outrage campaign over the OK sign on Twitter and other social media. If a few tweets go viral, actual liberal Twitter accounts would buy into this idea and show their outrage.
With this background, you might be tempted to say that the OK sign should not be labeled as a hate symbol. But white supremacists continued to use the OK sign: to troll liberals, as a sort of an inside joke, and finally unironically beginning around 2019. Most white supremacists likely aren’t even aware of the original mission now, but just want to “own the libs”.
This culminated in the aftermath of the Christchurch shootings, when the white supremacist accused of murdering 51 people used the sign at a courtroom appearance. This is clearly an example of a white supremacist using this hand sign as a symbol for his cause. This may be either legitimate usage or bait for the mainstream media to take, but in this context, you need to ask if there is any meaningful difference.
We do answer our original question [Is the symbol widely used by hate groups to attempt to further their common political agenda?] because even though the outrage was manufactured, the symbol still furthers the far-right agenda. You could argue that labelling it this way just gives white supremacists what they want, but many would also argue that we should try to label hate when we see it. It isn’t exactly clear cut.
However, this debate about labels is missing the point. The words we use to describe the OK sign don’t exactly matter as much as the actions we take around it.
Unfortunately, the OK sign’s influence reaches far and wide. For one, it literally means OK, as evident by its name. It’s also a meme, originating from the Circle Game [a game where the ok sign, meant to create a circle, is placed under a person’s waist. Once the person convinces another to look at the circle, the victim receives a punch to the shoulder]. However, this interpretation of the OK sign’s meme status is limited and doesn’t express how prevalent the hand sign is to internet culture. For example, it is everywhere in photos, as an easter egg of sorts, providing almost unlimited examples for outrage and perpetuating the alt-right plot. It’s a mega-meme of its own, whether it is above or below the waist.
For most, these extremely benign meanings of the OK Sign make it difficult to associate with hate, which is why it was a perfect candidate for a weaponized hate symbol. This is the frustrating part: the proposition that the OK sign is a hate symbol sounds ridiculous, and that’s the point. But the OK sign is growing from a bait to a legitimate far-right dog whistle. We cannot just ignore hate that is right in front of our eyes.
Let’s not pretend that moderates are the only reason why this plot succeeded either. There are many prominent online liberals and mainstream news sources who took the bait by, first, assuming that the OK sign was a legitimate hate symbol from the beginning, and, two, attempting to “expose” random citizens as white supremacists, creating the very “liberal hysteria” that the alt-right wanted to expose. They will add another layer of complexity towards finding a solution to how we can address this symbol.
Luckily, we have clear evidence that proves that this was a manufactured controversy. Slowly but surely, the news and politically involved are learning about how hate groups work. If we handle this correctly, then the alt-right’s scheme can backfire.
A perfect permanent solution to address the OK sign and other weaponized hate symbols doesn’t exist. It is very difficult to reclaim any hate symbol. But there are some simple actions that you can take to limit the far-right’s influence.
The main one is very simple: just stop using it. Is it fair that a previously inoffensive meme and mean of communication is taken away? No. But it is the best option for regular people to take in their regular lives. For your own benefit, you don’t want unwarranted outrage or association to affect you.
Yeah, it sucks. But if it makes you memers happier, I would like to present another symbol, with practically the same meaning, that can replace an OK sign: a thumbs up. The benefit to a thumbs up is that you don’t have to worry about perpetrating the idea of a white ethnostate when you just want to have a gag in a photo.
We don’t know how hate groups will evolve, but in regards to this specific issue, they have three options. They could:
What seems almost certain is that they will try something like this again. The thumbs up could be their next OK sign. We need to set some ground rules about how to identify a white supremacist from your average teenage memer.
Again, the main rule is very simple: context always matters. Chances are that some kid who does a hand sign at his graduation isn’t chanting for the mass genocide of Jews on the weekends. But a right-wing politician or speaker showing the OK sign could be knowingly and legitimately using a dog whistle to gather support from the far-right.
When identifying actual usage of the OK sign as a dog whistle, you also need to provide the full context of the symbol. Lack of context led to the hysteria that made the OK sign a recognizable hate symbol in the first place. I went in depth in explaining this symbol because I wanted to make a YouTube video, but it’s possible to summarize the OK sign’s background in a tweet or two.
At the end of the day, the OK sign is just a dog whistle with extra hurdles to identify it.
The story of the OK sign is a story of ignorance. This plot worked because of ignorant liberals believing that the OK sign is a legitimate hate symbol, then to label anyone who used it as a Nazi. This plot worked because of ignorant moderates and conservatives validating white supremacist talking points against all liberals.
Hate thrives on ignorance, and it can be suppressed if we educate ourselves. Like the alt-right did in this instance, there are people who want to mislead the population. The world is a complex place, and not every battle is just good versus evil. This makes stories like this more difficult to explain, but even more important to learn.
Understanding the world allows us to make it a better world. And we can all agree that’s a good thing. Goodbye internet.