# OK vs. White Power sign?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 7, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971 "2018-09-07T20:30:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/21 "2018-09-09T17:16:31Z")
I would also like to take this chance to point out that the “OK” sign is made with the free fingers pointing UP and splayed out, whereas the ASL “asshole” sign is made with the fingers under the circled thumb and forefinger, held more closely and pointing to the side. This is also the way you piss someone off by making them look then punching them. Different signs entirely.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/22 "2018-09-09T17:28:06Z")
> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> No, 4chan shit-stirrers adopt a pre-existing symbol and use it to troll people who WANT to see racist fascist Nazis in every corner. Trolls and con artists know that the easiest victims are the ones who want to believe.
Right. It’s exactly the same as the LGBTQP/Pedosexual thing that was going around a while ago: /b/ wants people to get angry, so it invents a fake movement of pedophiles trying to link themselves to the GLBTQ+ movement.
There’s nothing behind that, and there’s nothing behind this “racist hand sign” or whatever it’s called.
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/23 "2018-09-09T17:44:22Z")
> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> No, 4chan shit-stirrers adopt a pre-existing symbol and use it to troll people who WANT to see racist fascist Nazis in every corner. Trolls and con artists know that the easiest victims are the ones who want to believe.
This is my understanding as well.
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/24 "2018-09-09T18:38:16Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Yes, she’s found a way to have fun by trolling the losers, so she does it.
Wouldn’t a decent person be horrified to be suspected of being white supremacist? Like, so horrified they’d be damned certain not to send that impression again, even if it meant :gasp: being xtra careful about how one holds their fingers?
“Trolling losers” is not what decent people do after they mature past the 9th grade.
Seriously, you think doing this makes _her_ the reasonable one?
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/25 "2018-09-09T18:43:42Z")
> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> No, 4chan shit-stirrers adopt a pre-existing symbol and use it to troll people who WANT to see racist fascist Nazis in every corner. Trolls and con artists know that the easiest victims are the ones who want to believe.
So best case scenario, Kavanaugh’s assistant is a 4chan shit-stirring con artist. That’s so reassuring!
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/26 "2018-09-09T19:10:32Z")
OK (heh), just so I am absolutely clear on this: The OK sign and the White Power sign are the same gesture. The gesture as WP was made up for trolling purposes. The gesture as OK still means ‘OK’, and anyone who thinks otherwise has caught a hook on a long-line. Right?
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/27 "2018-09-09T19:38:23Z")
There is no such thing as using this for trolling purposes but not promoting white supremacy.
If these people’s main thrill in life is provoking someone into calling them Nazis, then that makes this indistinguishable from real Nazis who proudly call themselves such.
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/28 "2018-09-09T19:57:46Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> … Seriously, you think doing this makes _her_ the reasonable one?
Yes, or at least the one with a sense of humor.
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/29 "2018-09-09T20:00:46Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> … If these people’s main thrill in life is provoking someone into calling them Nazis, then that makes this indistinguishable from real Nazis who proudly call themselves such.
What if it’s not their “main” thrill but a little side thrill to break up the monotony of hours of dumb senators droning on and on or grandstanding for their bases? Still “indistinguishable from real Nazis”?
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/30 "2018-09-09T20:11:02Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> There is no such thing as using this for trolling purposes but not promoting white supremacy.
>
> If these people’s main thrill in life is provoking someone into calling them Nazis, then that makes this indistinguishable from real Nazis who proudly call themselves such.
You are 4chan’s dream mark.
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/31 "2018-09-09T20:35:00Z")
Regardless of the origin of the gesture, who is going to take this woman seriously after pimping out her holocaust surviving grandparents? So she’s as childish as the 4chan losers? Winning.
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/32 "2018-09-09T20:40:25Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> What if it’s not their “main” thrill but a little side thrill to break up the monotony of hours of dumb senators droning on and on or grandstanding for their bases? Still “indistinguishable from real Nazis”?
I can’t fathom what’s so thrilling about fooling people into thinking you’re a white supremacist, unless, that is, you actually are sympathetic to white supremacy.
Can you imagine doing this on national TV, during your boss’s confirmation hearing? I mean, you clearly think it’s funny and harmless, so why not?
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/33 "2018-09-09T20:43:35Z")
> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> You are 4chan’s dream mark.
I have nothing to live for now.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/34 "2018-09-09T20:44:31Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> Wouldn’t a decent person be horrified to be suspected of being white supremacist?
Not if they were being accused of it by Internet conspiracy theorists.
> [@](#):
>
> “Trolling losers” is not what decent people do after they mature past the 9th grade.
Do you _know_ people? Do you _interact with_ people?
If some group was getting all offended over nothing, you’d do that thing ten times harder just to fuck with them. Don’t deny it.
> [@](#):
>
> Seriously, you think doing this makes _her_ the reasonable one?
Human. I never claimed she was being perfectly reasonable, but humans are rarely perfectly reasonable.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/35 "2018-09-09T20:46:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> OK (heh), just so I am absolutely clear on this: The OK sign and the White Power sign are the same gesture. The gesture as WP was made up for trolling purposes. The gesture as OK still means ‘OK’, and anyone who thinks otherwise has caught a hook on a long-line. Right?
Right. Exactly.
There are, apparently, a few people who use the OK sign to get a rise out of those who have been hooked, [like how the Denver International Airport is trolling the “Lizard People” believers](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/denver-airport-construction-conspiracy-lizard-people), but they’re a minority, sadly enough.
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/36 "2018-09-09T21:13:34Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Not if they were being accused of it by Internet conspiracy theorists.
>
> Do you _know_ people? Do you _interact with_ people?
I specified \*decent \* people. Meaning, someone you can take to Capitol Hill and they are political savvy and ethical enough to carry themselves better than a racist 4channer. Perhaps the group I’m talking about represents a very small segment of society, and you’ve never met them?
What’s amazing is that rather than saying Bash was innocently just signing okay (which I’m actually willing to hear out), your preferred defense is that she’s _just_ trolling. Just relishing in the spectacle of being associated with Nazis, because why not. As if that’s not actually an indication of how fucked up things have gotten on the right, that such behavior is considered acceptable for an assistant to a SCOTUS nominee and WH employee.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/37 "2018-09-09T21:44:01Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> I specified \*decent \* people. Meaning, someone you can take to Capitol Hill and they are political savvy and ethical enough to carry themselves better than a racist 4channer. Perhaps the group I’m talking about represents a very small segment of society, and you’ve never met them?
>
> What’s amazing is that rather than saying Bash was innocently just signing okay (which I’m actually willing to hear out), your preferred defense is that she’s _just_ trolling. Just relishing in the spectacle of being associated with Nazis, because why not. As if that’s not actually an indication of how fucked up things have gotten on the right, that such behavior is considered acceptable for an assistant to a SCOTUS nominee and WH employee.
As far as I’m concerned, making fun of conspiracy theorists is a positive good. It at least has the chance at making a few of them keep quiet, which would raise the level of discourse immensely.
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/38 "2018-09-09T21:55:03Z")
According to her Wikipedia page, her maiden name is “Gelman”, two of her grandparents survived the Holocaust, and she was born in Monterrey, Mexico. In my opinion, that makes her unlikely to be sympathetic to Nazism.
Has anyone considered the possibility that when she used the OK sign, she may have meant “OK”?
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/39 "2018-09-09T22:01:27Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> As far as I’m concerned, making fun of conspiracy theorists is a positive good. It at least has the chance at making a few of them keep quiet, which would raise the level of discourse immensely.
If it’s just a hoax propagated by 4chan, then education is the solution. Going out of your way up to use the sign to get luls doesn’t do anything except foment distrust and disrupt communication.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/40 "2018-09-09T22:45:54Z")
The first time she used the sign, it might have meant “OK” (though I’m not sure who she would have been signalling OK to). Doing it again, though, after it was pointed out?
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