Posted on 09/15/2018 9:05:28 AM PDT by Drew68
The U.S. Coast Guard says it “removed” a member from its Hurricane Florence response team Friday after he made an “OK” hand gesture on live TV that the service branch deemed “offensive.”
The unidentified team member was caught looking into the camera and then swiftly making the hand gesture, prompting a backlash on social media.
The hand signal was seen in the background of MSNBC’s live interview with Sector Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. John Reed, who was providing an update on actions taken by the Coast Guard in response to Hurricane Florence.
Many social media users called for the firing of the individual, accusing him of making a so-called “white power” hate symbol.
The agency immediately responded to the outcry and distanced from the controversy.
“We are aware of the offensive video on twitter - the Coast Guard has identified the member and removed him from the response. His actions do not reflect those of the United States Coast Guard,” the agency tweeted.
The Guard is now investigating the matter. In a statement, the agency said the incident was a “frustrating distraction” amid the dangerous hurricane that is poised to affect more than 10 million people this week in the Southeast.
There have been at least four deaths since the storm reached the coastline on Friday morning, according to officials.
There’s no clear consensus whether the “OK” hand gesture constitutes a hate symbol. While it has been adopted by some fringe far-right figures, it has also been commonly used by many Trump supporters.
The Anti-Defamation League previously noted that the “OK” gesture isn’t a hate symbol.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
👌🏻👌🏼👌🏽👌🏾👌🏿
I agree more than you can ever imagine. This stuff has to stop. Now.
“Otay ‘Panky”
And we’re supposed to coexist with these stupid POSs? I don’t think so.
******************
A bifurcation seems inevitable.
The sad thing is that in dignifying this hysteria, people are seeing their reputations and careers destroyed.
The Coast Guard should tell them that there is serious, life saving work to do and they are going to remain focused on the critical tasks at hand. There is no time for this nonsense.
I wouldn't be surprised to see this emoji quietly disappear during a future iOS update.
WTF?
The era of the professionally offended.
This really offends me!
I saw him flipping the camera off.
From the Oxford dictionary, very interesting where they say the most plausible origin of this is...
“The only other theory with at least a degree of plausibility is that the term originated among Black slaves of West African origin, and represents a word meaning ‘all right, yes indeed’ in various West African languages. Unfortunately, historical evidence enabling the origin of this expression to be finally and firmly established may be hard to unearth.”
So the origin is most likely from Black Slaves
I think it has significance homos. I think it is used in that community to call someone an “asshole.”
The fact that a white person would continue to breathe is proof that he/she/it is a white supremacist.
So every single PADI recreational diver ON THE PLANET is s a white supremacist when he signals to his dive partner that he is. “OK”?
GOT IT!!
Have you read the twitter replies to this tweet?
I swear there are hundreds of idiots protesting their outrage at such a “blatant showing of racism”. It’s snowballing even as we speak.
Not one reply showed any sense at all; just pure hatred.
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