I just had to explain to an Asian colleague & friend why he should avoid the OK sign.

[Xipe Totec]

He was proudly responding to every slack thread with the ok sign.

I hated to burst his bubble.

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764728163/the-ok-hand-gesture-is-now-listed-as-a-symbol-of-hate

[Dr Hobbitstein]

1. That's dumb. Use the sign. I do.

Some fringe white supremacists are co-opting it, but the context is super easy to see.

[Xipe Totec]

2. Or not. nt

[Girard442]

4. It would be possible, in theory, to "take back" the swastika.

Good luck with that.

[pnwmom]

13. Exactly. My mother had an antique table with that shape along the edges.

No one wanted to inherit it.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

14. I wouldn't say it's that far gone.

White supremacists have been using the symbol for a couple years. It’s not mainstream, and still a fringe symbol.

The average person still uses the OK symbol to say OK. And it’s still a part of the never-ending asshole game.

[Crunchy Frog]

23. I don't think it's reached swastika level proportions.

If it becomes the main symbol under which a large scale genocide is committed, that would probably change.

[Tipperary]

20. I agree

Silliness.

[lunatica]

3. It IS a little better than the Scalia Salute, don't you think?

[Blue_true]

11. What is the Scalia salute. I apologize for asking, but my life can be pretty sheltered at times. nt

[lunatica]

12. OK, here's some internationally recognized language in most countries

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12042658/ns/politics/t/scalias-italian-gesture-confused-obscenity/#.XaEkYspMGhA

&feature=share

It’s hand gestures used to insult. Note the fingers under the chin and the extended arm with the other hand on the biceps in the video.

[LiberalFighter]

5. I don't remember the okay sign being with the fingers spread.

Every time I did it I had them together.

The only other time the 3 fingers are spread is for the letter F in deaf sign language. But! It is presented with the palm towards the viewer and circle is not visible.

The side view of the letter F is not the known okay sign nor a deaf sign.

[Ron Obvious]

37. Really? I find it damn hard to keep the other three fingers together

I can hardly manage it.

This is such a stupid issue, I can't believe people are up in arms about it.

[sl8]

6. Also listed is "100%", the numbers 12, 13, 14, 18... n/t

[NCLefty]

7. I knew a Korean guy. He told me a woman told him to speak English here but he didn't think it was

racist.

/shrug

[snort]

8. Just do it with the left hand

then it sounds like a laundry detergent.

[virgogal]

9. I will continue to use it,it's been around forever. Okay?

[Xipe Totec]

10. Knock yourself out. nt

[Dr Hobbitstein]

15. Ok.

[Lars39]

19. See how he positions his thumb and forefinger? That is "OK".

The way you see most white nationalists make their symbol is with the tip of the forefinger placed precisely over the tip of the thumb.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

16. Way to whitesplain to your Asian friend that he's

being a white supremacist.

[Tipperary]

21. Ha!

Spot on!

[Xipe Totec]

38. So, you think I'm white?

Based on zero information.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

39. Well, you told your Asian friend he was being a white supremacist...

Most POC aren't that tone deaf to tell that to another POC, but hey. There's always an exception to the rule.

[Xipe Totec]

42. Chinga a tu puta madre pendejo gabacho.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

43. Wow. Nice ad hom! Disguising it in Spanish so no one will notice, eh? nt

[phleshdef]

24. Its not even the old meaning. Its STILL the real meaning.

To hell with allowing white supremacists dictate popular culture.

[phleshdef]

32. Like it or not, it means OKAY and I will continue to use it as such.

You don't get a say.

[phleshdef]

36. No, evidently I'm not a coward who bows down before white supremacists.

I don't give 2 fucks what anything means in Afghanistan and Brazil as I will never step foot in those countries, ever. But go ahead and try to (and fail to) muddy the waters with irrelevant "fun facts" about other countries and their hand gestures. I'm a god damn American and these Nazi fucks will not successfully alter my day to day life. Our side needs to stop being so chicken shit about this garbage.

[hmanne]

41. Well said,

well said.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

40. It's also used in ASL.

All those deaf people who use ASL to communicate are obviously white supremacists, though.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

26. Nah, it's been the OK symbol forever and is still in use

as such with much of America.

[hmanne]

27. I'm 73 and I still see it in use quite commonly,

even here in So. Cal.

[phleshdef]

22. I REFUSE to allow white supremacists to change my normal behaviors.

Stop being suckers.

[hmanne]

25. I still use it.

I refuse to bow down to those that think they've co-opted the OK sign that's been around for as long as I can remember, all my friends and family knows what I mean when I give the OK sign and that's all that matters.

[GulfCoast66]

28. When in rural China several years ago people always wanted photos with the wife and I.

I assume because her hair is curly and dark blond.

They normally made the thumbs up sign but occasionally would give the OK sign in the photo.

Shame on me for not telling them they were white supremacist.

[hmanne]

30. LOL, I just spit my morning coffee all over my screen

reading your reply.

[cwydro]

33. Lol! Too funny!

Fuck the white supremacists.

I’m more likely to use a thumbs up, but I think this nonsense about the white supremacists somehow making that sign theirs is just that - nonsense.

Same thing about some of the early flags. No white supremacist will steal history from me.

[hmanne]

34. +100.

I wonder if the powers the be here on DU could add an OK sign in the smilies section just to throw it at the conservanazis?

[Iggo]

29. One more time: It's not the "OK" sign. It's the "W" sign for white power.

The okay sign for "okay" is okay.

Flashing the "W" sign for white power is not okay.