Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Military Investigating After Cadets Flash Supposed White Power Sign During Army-Navy Pregame Coverage

During a televised broadcast of the annual Army-Navy game this year, several academy students caused an online uproar by flashing the "ok" hand symbol that has come to represent "White Power" in recent years.

Now, after intense backlash attacking the West Point cadets and Navy midshipmen, officials at West Point are investigating the incident.


Stills and video were shared online.

Lt. Col. Chris Ophardt of West Point told The Wall Street Journal:

"We're looking into it. I don't know what their intention is."

The "white power" symbol began as a joke on the anonymous message board 4chan. Basically, to troll liberals, people on the site began spreading the idea that the "ok" sign, which forms the shapes of a W and P, is actually a secret white supremacist symbol.

If you're not sure what the difference is between sincerely and ironically displaying a "white power" gesture, then you see the problem. If one were to throw up the Nazi salute on live television, they can claim to be doing so as a joke, but the effect the gesture has on people remains the same.

The "Ok" hand symbol was added to The Anti-Defamation League's list of hate symbols last year, and is now being used as a sincere gesture among many white supremacists.

Many online, however, believe the cadets were simply playing the "circle game," in which the "ok" gesture, when held below the waist, means whoever looked at the gesture will receive a punch in the arm.

It's very possible 4chan chose this gesture because of its use in games such as this—all the better for making people seem paranoid and unreasonable.


Despite the fact that none of the circles seen on camera were held below the waist, many people believe the multiple cadets flashing the gesture were all completely ignorant as to its well-known double meaning and simply playing a game.

Because it's not like that information has been everywhere.

Repeatedly.


As always, the double standards at play are staggering.


Last year, a Coast Guard midshipman was reprimanded for flashing the hand symbol in the background of yet another television broadcast.


Many are calling for disciplinary action against the cadets involved.


There is no such thing as a joking hate symbol in real life, just like it's never ok to use a racial slur, even in a joke.

It's important that we all remember the effect gestures of hate can have on people. Even if they're done in jest, they can act as a reminder of a person's lower social status, or the danger they've faced because of who they are, and mock them for it.

More from Trending

Kendra Wilkinson
Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

Former 'Playboy' Star Claps Back At Body-Shaming Trolls With Empowering Post

Kendra Wilkinson has had it with people coming for her appearance online.

The former Playboy Bunny and star of the reality show Girls Next Door, which followed the lives of live-in girlfriends at Hugh Hefner's mansion, recently shared a post on Instagram addressing some of the online criticism she had received recently over what people had perceived as a radical change in body from the 20-year-old they saw back in her Playboy days in 2005.

Keep ReadingShow less
Brad Pitt
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

French Woman Scammed Out Of $850k By Fake 'Brad Pitt'—And The AI Photos Are Something Else

A French woman was scammed out of $850,000 when she drained her bank account to give the money to who she thought was Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt.

Spoiler alert, it wasn't.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of angry Philadelphia Eagles fan behind female Green Bay Packers fan
@Basaraski/X

Eagles Fan Under Investigation After He Was Caught On Video Hurling Vile Abuse At Packers Fan

Spirited rivalry is par for the course when sports fans root for their home teams, and tensions can get exacerbated when alcohol is involved.

However, one Philadelphia Eagles fan attending Sunday's NFL game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly crossed the line when he berated a female fan cheering on the visiting Green Bay Packers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Lara Trump
Fox News

Lara Trump Gets Swiftly Schooled After Doubting How Climate Change Could Cause L.A. Wildfires

President-elect Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump—the former Republican National Committee (RNC) co-chair—was criticized after she erroneously claimed that climate change couldn't be a factor in the deadly Los Angeles wildfires, only to be given a blunt fact-check on social media.

Firefighters in Ventura County worked to contain a new brush fire in the Santa Clara River bottom Tuesday as powerful Santa Ana winds raised the risk of additional blazes across Southern California, currently facing some of the worst fires in the state's history.

Keep ReadingShow less
TikTok logo; Elon Musk
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

TikTok Bluntly Shuts Down Report Claiming They Might Sell The Platform To Elon Musk

If you're active on TikTok you know that it's been quite an eventful few weeks on the app, as users wait to see what will become of it as the January 19 deadline for the proposed ban rapidly approaches.

But one potential solution that was floating around just might be worse than banning the app altogether, at least in the minds of many users: a purchase of the app by Elon Musk.

Keep ReadingShow less