Miller's hand signal done by accident or by clever design
(With him
it's always on purpose)
Original story of that photo of Stephen
Miller, Trump key W/H Advisor here first from
Daily Kos (February 21, 2017) sets the stage for this discussion.
Next Snopes (February 22, 2017) raises questions
about the Daily Kos article and their assumptions.
Then, the
Southern Poverty Law Center offers more insight to what that hand
symbol means or does not mean in clear terms.
The bottom line: Decision about the sign or signal
and meaning is up to the readers – I offer key parts that I believe are
important to anyone reaching any decision about the “hand sign” which follows”
Daily Kos Highlights: Take a look at the guy in the picture
above: That’s Stephen Miller, senior advisor to Donald Trump. He’s also an
avowed racist; that’s what his friends and family say. He has openly
disparaged blacks, Latinos, and Asians throughout his school career, from
high school to Duke University, where he palled around with white
supremacist leader Richard Spencer.
He continued
his racist streak when he interned with Jeff Sessions and now spends
his days trying to out-bigot the other white supremacist named Steve in
Trump’s White House. No wonder David Duke adores him.
Now look at the picture – a screen shot
of Miller that was used in the headlines for The Guardian, New York Daily, and Washington Post (the president will not be questioned).
He made headlines that day
for defending the Muslim ban by saying Trump's actions “will not be
questioned!” You might think that’s an odd natural gesture to make. And it
is.
What Miller is doing is completely intentional: His right hand, three fingers. Three fingers form “W” and his left
hand curls to make the “P” formation.
Together: WP = White Power. The ADL says this is a common white
supremacist hand sign.
Snopes Highlights: On February 21, 2017, web site Daily Kos shared a photograph of White House advisor Stephen
Miller, along with a claim that the image clearly shows him using a hand
gesture that signifies white nationalism.
The
photograph was taken February 12, 2017 by Reuters photographer Joshua
Roberts shortly before Miller appeared on Face the Nation with this caption: “Senior
White House Advisor Stephen Miller waits to go on the air in the White House
Briefing Room in Washington, U.S., February 12, 2017.”
It is
impossible to tell, in the absence of additional images or video to use for
comparison purposes whether Miller was deliberately using a hand gesture of any
sort or whether this picture simply captured him during a fleeting moment while
he was adjusting his tie and jacket. We have reached out to Roberts to see if
any such footage is available.
However, the
position of Miller’s hands do not match the white power hand symbol image provided by the ADL. Evidence
that Miller was actually using a controversial gesture is slight at best, and
most likely the image simply captured him in the act of adjusting his outfit
just before appearing on camera.
SPLC Analysis: 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 “plausible deniability” established by less ideological young trolls;
Second, 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 “only meant it ironically” and that their
real purpose was to anger liberals, minorities, and “social
justice warriors” (SJWs), they
can’t 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 “marketplace of
ideas” as a useful platform for spreading their toxic ideology — 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 “free speech” defense amid claims of left-wing persecution — which is what
memes like the “OK sign” are designed to do — this is always their long-term
goal.
So what does it mean when someone
flashes the OK sign? In the end, it can mean almost anything, but primarily
it’s one of three things:
1.
It
can be a harmless use of its traditional meaning that all’s well.
2.
It
can be an ironic attempt to troll liberals with a symbol chosen to “trigger”
their inner “SJWs.”
3.
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’t
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 “centrists” and “libertarians,”
particularly those who spread conspiracy theories and are often labeled the
“alt-lite,” 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.
My 2 cents: As I said read the three sources and
draw your own conclusion. This is great strategy on the part of the Alt-Right
and all others connected to that side’s view.
Related
from Trump (see next
blog post below) more or less advocating violent acts towards those who
stand up to him or question him. This is very troubling.
Clever and seems to be working as they have planned.
Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.
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