Army / Navy game and "white power" sign

[SpokaneCY]

Kind of a weird story... I watched the game but never saw the "hate" symbols. Well the probe was just completed and it was kids playing a game. A game I used to play in the Air Force back in 19 and 85 called the "bag game". You make a circle with your fingers (the OK sign which is apparently now hate speech) and hold it over your head or below your waist. If someone LOOKED at it you could punch them - sometimes in the nuts - thus the "bag" game. If someone made the sign and you could break the circle, you could give the punishment. Actually brings back fond memories. Not of scrotum abuse, but the male bonding part of it.

https://www.espn.com/college-footba...-hand-gestures-made-army-navy-game-not-racist

 

[ClonesFTW]

Somewhere... Theo Epstein is shaking.

 

[Isualum13]

It's also the sign every person in the history of basketball throws up when they make a 3 pointer.

 

[NATEizKING]

I think Pat McCaffery invented it so we should seek his true meaning.

 

[madguy30]

I actually remember a similar thing from other situations like 20 years ago in high schoolish that were the broseph 'hey if you see this, punch a dude and we're all gonna be like, gnarly surfer dude, dude.'.

But if it's been noted as something that has been recognized as a white power signal, in a time where that kind of thing has been publicized quite a bit over the last several months, and you still don't understand that it's not a good idea to flash it on national television regardless of intentions on the only college game on TV, then it's a little scary that this is the kind of behavior that's allowed from the people that would be serving my country if my freedoms were actually in peril.

 

[bluestarcyclone]

Its a tough thing. Because yes, there are innocuous uses of it. But there are also way too many documented situations where it is clear that the people involved are sending messages to those 'in' on a racist meaning of it. Its the ugly beauty of it- a hate symbol with plausible deniability.

 

[intrepid27]

Thanks for sharing that SpokaneCY. Because until now I thought that was a pretty lame explanation. Hopefully that's all it was.

 

[everyyard]

I don’t buy it at all. They only meant one thing by it and they knew exactly what that symbol means now. Racists are the filth of humanity and it disgusts me that some of America’s finest are comfortable being so open about it.

 

[arobb]

I think some people are just looking for reasons to get triggered by everything. I'll just leave this here...

 

[arobb]

And this...

 

[Clonefan32]

I don’t buy it at all. They only meant one thing by it and they knew exactly what that symbol means now. Racists are the filth of humanity and it disgusts me that some of America’s finest are comfortable being so open about it.

This is just ridiculous. I don't know how you can possible glean their intent from a 3 second clip. How do you know "they knew exactly what that symbol means now"? That symbol has had a completely innocuous existence up until recently. Personally, I had no idea there was an alternative meaning until the Doug Glanville thing, and if I didn't follow the Cubs I probably would have missed that as well. I'm glad they looked into it, but it's absolutely absurd to me that someone would jump to the conclusion that they "knew what they were doing" based solely on a 3 second clip.

Personally, I struggle to think that someone who has gone so far as to be accepted into the Naval academy thought "hey, I'm on national television in front of 8 million people. I'm going to throw up a white supremacist sign and get kicked out of the Academy and completely ruin my future!"

I just don't know at what point people quit being entitled to the benefit of the doubt...

 

[dosry5]

Kind of a weird story... I watched the game but never saw the "hate" symbols. Well the probe was just completed and it was kids playing a game. A game I used to play in the Air Force back in 19 and 85 called the "bag game". You make a circle with your fingers (the OK sign which is apparently now hate speech) and hold it over your head or below your waist. If someone LOOKED at it you could punch them - sometimes in the nuts - thus the "bag" game. If someone made the sign and you could break the circle, you could give the punishment. Actually brings back fond memories. Not of scrotum abuse, but the male bonding part of it.

https://www.espn.com/college-footba...-hand-gestures-made-army-navy-game-not-racist

Yep. When I was in the service it was a common game too.

 

[Stewo]

It's not a white power thing except for probably a few thousand people. Here's a simple rule to follow: if you see someone use the "okay" sign, it means okay, they are playing the punching/bag game, or they just hit a wicked three ball. Honestly, if you see someone do the okay sign and your first thought is WP, then it's totally and completely a you problem.

 

[ISUCubswin]

I work with middle school and high school kids. 4 years ago, just before bottle flipping was a thing, it was common for kids to do this in pictures as a joke because it would give them an excuse to hit a friend if someone noticed. Then the idea of the symbol being racist came out and it stopped pretty quick.

If you want to be a little more educated on the topic, here’s a great article explaining why it became a symbol of hate

You’ll want to scroll down to “how it became connected to white power” and prepare yourself to go crazy at how social media can change society so quickly.

 

[DreamyCy]

Pretty common game when I was in high school. I laugh whenever I see someone get triggered by that symbol. It’s a common hand signal in our society.

 

[isuno1fan]

This is why DT wins a 2nd term. Embarrassing anyone is offended by this.

 

[CloneFan4]

I don’t buy it at all. They only meant one thing by it and they knew exactly what that symbol means now. Racists are the filth of humanity and it disgusts me that some of America’s finest are comfortable being so open about it.

It should be a crime to be this stupid

 

[Cyched]

Its the ugly beauty of it- a hate symbol with plausible deniability

At some point you think this was by design from these groups. Co-opt a popular gesture, so that when it’s used people downplay it rather than ask why it suddenly has a new meaning.

Look at the reactions on here and elsewhere. The ire is always directed at the people pointing it out - “geez you’re so triggered, it doesn’t mean anything!”- rather than towards the WP groups for corrupting it in the first place.

 

[CloneFan4]

At some point you think this was by design from these groups. Co-opt a popular gesture, so that when it’s used people downplay it rather than ask why it suddenly has a new meaning.

Look at the reactions on here and elsewhere. The ire is always directed at the people pointing it out - “geez you’re so triggered, it doesn’t mean anything!”- rather than towards the WP groups for corrupting it in the first place.

Jfc. I dont know maybe the reactions are that way because it was put in place by harmless 4 chan trolls, not WP groups.

 

[Stewo]

At some point you think this was by design from these groups. Co-opt a popular gesture, so that when it’s used people downplay it rather than ask why it suddenly has a new meaning.

Look at the reactions on here and elsewhere. The ire is always directed at the people pointing it out - “geez you’re so triggered, it doesn’t mean anything!”- rather than towards the WP groups for corrupting it in the first place.

Because then you're giving the idiots credence. Ignore them and their attempt to appropriate something that's been around for decades. Automatically assuming someone has ill intentions with stuff like this is way more harmful and only stokes the flame, just as the inbred white trash would like. If people move on and ignore the teeny tiny little percentage of mouth breathers that concocted this scheme, we'd already have moved on. Instead, we're still here, spinning our wheels on a non-issue.