Is that an OK sign? A white power symbol? Or just a right-wing troll?
From its adoption first by white nationalists, and then by 4chan trolls intent on 鈥榯riggering the libs,鈥� the well-known hand signal鈥檚 use points to deeper concerns.
The smirk that almost inevitably accompanies the 鈥淥K鈥� sign, that simplest of hand signals, is the dead giveaway in the shroud of internet-age befuddlement: Does the sign, the thumb and forefinger joined together in a circle, the remaining three fingers splayed out behind, mean 鈥渁ll鈥檚 good?鈥� Or does it mean 鈥渨hite power鈥� instead?
The smirk gives away the proper answer: You鈥檙e being trolled.
The social-media-driven controversy over the meaning of the well-known hand sign has arisen in part as the result of a deliberate hoax concocted on the internet message board 4chan, which in addition to its well-earned reputation as a gateway to the racist 鈥渁lt-right鈥� is perhaps more broadly known as the home of trolling culture.
So when it gets flashed during a national broadcast, or during , or by a cluster of Proud Boys and 鈥淧atriots,鈥� what it鈥檚 about most of the time is a deliberate attempt to 鈥渢rigger liberals鈥� into overreacting to a gesture so widely used that virtually anyone has plausible deniability built into their use of it in the first place.
The problem, of course, is that there are white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Klansmen who have increasingly begun using the use of the symbol both to signal their presence to the like-minded, as well as to identify potentially sympathetic recruits among young trolling artists flashing it. To them, the configuration means WP, for 鈥渨hite power.鈥�
This use of the signal preceded the 4chan hoax that made it go viral. A number of alt-right figures, notably white-nationalist guru Richard Spencer, published 听of themselves using the symbol as early as 2016. Milo Yiannopoulos adopted the symbol on social media as early as .
But by then, the alt-right had already long weaponized the trolling culture and its use of irony to create a hall of mirrors surrounding such 鈥渕emes.鈥� These can easily be found in other alt-right 鈥渋ronic鈥� constructs, such as the hoax religion of 鈥淜ek鈥�听(and its home country, Kekistan), or its adoption of Pepe the Frog听as a mascot.
In early 2017, after 听over whether Gateway Pundit publisher Jim Hoft and a writer for his site flashed the 鈥渨hite power sign鈥� at the White House Press Briefing Room, the trolls at 4chan responded with a hoax they titled 鈥淥peration O-KKK.鈥� The ? 鈥淲e must flood twitter and other social media websites with spam, claiming that the OK hand signal is a symbol of white supremacy. Make fake accounts with basic white girl names and type shit like: OMG that鈥檚 so truuuuu鈥︹��
The intent: 鈥淟eftists have dug so deep down into their lunacy. We must force [them] to dig more, until the rest of society ain鈥檛 going anywhere near that shit.鈥�
A number of media outlets bit, running 听warning that the old 鈥淥K鈥� sign now had a darker connotation as an alt-right symbol. Somewhat in reaction, the Anti-Defamation League published a piece dismissing the whole question as a product of the 4chan hoax. (The piece has since 听with a more nuanced analysis.)
This became the preferred narrative about the hand signal鈥檚 meaning. When White House aide Stephen Miller was photographed appearing to pose while making 鈥淲鈥� and 鈥淧鈥� hand signals, and social-media accusations flew claiming it proved his affiliation with white nationalism, the fact-checking site 听by determining that was 鈥渇alse,鈥� based mainly on the claim鈥檚 ostensible origins as a hoax.
Since then, the hand signal鈥檚 use has nonetheless spread. It鈥檚 used 鈥渋ronically鈥� by a number of Trump supporters at far-right rallies. It鈥檚 been particularly prominent among far-right street protesters such as the Proud Boys and the Northwest-based Patriot Prayer, whose members have prominently displayed the sign in group photos and during street protests.
At a gathering of Proud Boys in Salem, Oregon, that hosted former Trump adviser Roger Stone, the entire group was .
So when a former White House aide named Zina Bash was听听during confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh while seated directly behind him on September 4, an uproar arose on social media led by Twitter users claiming that she was making a surreptitious 鈥渨hite power鈥� signal to knowing viewers.
Just as quickly, however, 听补肠肠辞耻苍迟蝉 听of the matter by referring to the established narrative, explaining the signal鈥檚 spread entirely as a 4chan hoax. Eventually the whole matter was dismissed as liberal silliness.
However, that narrative obscures the reality of the darker undercurrents behind the spread of the 鈥淥K鈥� sign as a far-right signal. In addition to being adopted by Trump-friendly young people who mostly see it as a way to 鈥渢rigger鈥� liberals, it鈥檚 also been adopted by militiaman 鈥淧atriots鈥� (though it should be noted that 鈥淚II%鈥� militiamen听use a reverse form of the OK sign as a way to signal membership in their mythical 鈥�3 percent鈥� of the populace ready for a revolution).
Overt neo-Nazis such as Andrew Anglin mostly make fun of the whole concept of hand signals (he even ran a vulgar cartoon on the听Daily Stormer weighing in on the 鈥渃ontroversy鈥�). Yet its use keeps popping up in group photos of far-right hate-group members enjoying like-minded company. Its ubiquity seems to make its use by racists and trolls alike irresistible.
Dismissing the spread of the hand signal as a hoax overlooks two hard realities: first, that its increasing use gives open license to actual racist ideologues to operate and recruit under the cover of the 鈥減lausible deniability鈥� established by less ideological young trolls; and second, that any kind of wink-and-nudge interaction with the racist right is a direct route to its normalization.
While the people who flash the sign can always readily claim innocence of any racist intent by attesting that they 鈥渙nly meant it ironically鈥� and that their real purpose was to anger liberals, minorities and 鈥渟ocial justice warriors (SJWs),鈥� they can鈥檛 so readily escape ethical culpability for their role in the spread of hateful ideologies and their effects, including a global spike in hate crimes. Nor can they blame members of the minority groups who reasonably find such hand signals potentially threatening for being upset.
Radical fascists have, after all, historically taken advantage of the 鈥渕arketplace of ideas鈥� as a useful platform for spreading their toxic ideology 鈥� the outcome of which always entails the utter destruction of that marketplace and its replacement with authoritarian propaganda. When far-right ideologues retreat to a 鈥渇ree speech鈥� defense amid claims of left-wing persecution 鈥� which is what memes like the 鈥淥K sign鈥� are designed to do 鈥� this is always their long-term goal.
Natalie Wynn, a popular YouTube star who posts under the nom de plume ContraPoints, explained this dynamic vividly in a 2017 video titled 鈥淒ecrypting the Alt-Right鈥�:
More obscure symbols can be useful as a kind of secret handshake that lets Nazis recognize each other without normies taking notice. The best symbols to use for this purpose are ones that are not primarily associated with fascism, or at least have some other meaning, such as the othala rune, or the iron cross. Better still are symbols that, until adoption by fascists, are completely innocuous. Modern fascists have taken to using almost arbitrary emoji as a way to wink and nod at each other, notably the frog, after Pepe, the milk, and the OK sign.
鈥� Another advantage of using innocuous symbols is that when leftists try to point those symbols out, the fascists can always say, 鈥淭hese gullible SJWs now think that even the OK sign is racist. Is there anything they *don鈥檛* think is racist?鈥�
Emily Pothast : 鈥淚ts ambiguity is precisely why it鈥檚 such an effective trolling tactic. 鈥� When successful, this kind of trolling makes otherwise credible journalists and public intellectuals look like buffoons, either by overreacting to an ambiguous stimulus or by missing the whole context of the gesture.鈥�
Salon writer Amanda Marcotte delved this point : 鈥淧art of the problem is that if, hypothetically, someone flashed white supremacist symbols at the camera, the point of the stunt would be to get liberals wound up, so they can then claim that liberals are just imagining things,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淭hat was what the OK symbol was literally invented to do: Both serve as a white supremacist symbol and also one that is just ordinary-enough looking that when liberals expressed outrage, the white supremacist could play the victim of liberal hysteria.鈥�
So what does it mean when someone flashes the OK sign? In the end, it can mean almost anything, but primarily it鈥檚 one of three things:
- 听听It can be a harmless use of its traditional meaning that all鈥檚 well.
- 听 It can be an ironic attempt to troll liberals with a symbol chosen to 鈥渢rigger鈥� their inner 鈥淪JWs.鈥�
- It can be a surreptitious way of signaling your presence to other white supremacists.
The first of these (and its most common, but also most declining, use) is harmless. But it can鈥檛 credibly be claimed by anyone who has a record of involvement with the many far-right elements that swirl both around the Trump White House and outside it as well. Nor can it be claimed by street-protesting Proud Boys chanting far-right slogans.
The second is less directly harmful, but hardly innocent of wreaking havoc. The normalization of the radical right under the rhetorical protection of self-proclaimed 鈥渃entrists鈥� and 鈥渓ibertarians,鈥� particularly those who spread conspiracy theories and are often labeled the 鈥渁lt-lite,鈥� is a legacy that could last a generation or longer.
The third is, of course, reflective of a toxic worldview and authoritarian politics, bent primarily on the destruction of liberal democracy. At the moment, it remains the smallest bloc of the three.
Yet trolling culture, the ethos that fuels the second motivation, has proven a direct gateway not just to the alt-right, but also to even more poisonous cultures such as that of woman-hating 鈥渋ncels鈥�. It鈥檚 one thing to shrug off misbehavior by embracing the 鈥渢roll鈥� label, but it still means you鈥檙e a participant in a toxic subculture. It's easy for the second motivation to morph into the third.
So when someone flashes the 鈥淥K sign鈥� with that knowing smirk, it鈥檚 not just a harmless act that can be dismissed. It may or may not mean that they are a white nationalist attempting a sly signal. But the sign unquestionably identifies the user as one thing: a troll.
Photo from Facebook.
Editor's Note: This post was updated for clarity.
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