Racist kids at camp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about the circle game?

What is the circle game?

Context is everything. I wouldn’t jump so quickly to the racism assumption.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK_gesture

Pro tip: stop assuming the worst about others.

But things evolve and nobody plays that game anymore.

Just like the word gay doesn’t mean happy anymore.

Racist apologists everywhere.

It isn’t racist apologizing to challenge the notion that a child is such a racist so as to be flashing this very cynical sign. Get an effing grip.

He said he was making a racist sign.

Where did you read that? From what I read, he was just pointing out that he made a hand gesture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My eight year old flashed this sign in a picture! I was shocked. He doesn't spend time online, so the only thing I could think of is that he picked it up from another kid, who picked it up online or from a sibling. To him, all he knew is that it was something funny/different/cool to do in a picture.

Even if this 12 year old did it on purpose, he's likely just doing it to be a jerk, not because he's a nazi or even racist. He may not even know what it means, just that it's transgressive.

Mine too! When I questioned him he said it waz the circle game. When I told him people use it to mean something else and told him what, he was very upset and insisted I was wrong because kids at recess were doing it and its fhe circle game. When adults do it, I assume they know better. With kids, give the benefit of doubt.

Truth. I started to try to explain it to my 8 year old, but then I stopped, because the explanation made so little sense that I was worried that it would just hurt my ability to have good conversations with him about actual race/gender/religious discrimination issues, and actual racial slurs like the n-word. I just left it as "you could get in trouble if you do that in a picture, and it hurts some people's feelings." Would be easier to explain to a teen. 12 seems like on the border.

You need to do some more reading and research on how to talk with your kids about racism and hate. I have had productive conversations with my just-the dd 6 and 8 year olds and they know that there are words, symbols and gestures that they should never use.

Np and I agree with this except that the OK 👌 sign is so universal that it’s literally an emoji option in my phone! Kids flash this like they do the ✌️ peace sign in photos! Not for any other reason than to be goofballs.
Sure, you can tell them that a few (vile) people have recently hijacked it to mean something offensive, but it’s unlikely to be an issue for most people unless they are hyper-woke-sensitive and looking to find “white power” symbols in everything. Maybe OP has a valid grievance—or maybe she’s just gunningbfir this jerky kid who has been a jerk to her child at camp and hoping that this gesture gives her grievance some weight. But I really think OP should also stop and think about the seriousness of her accusation before barging into the office armed with this “obvious sign of racism” from this photo. There are, in fact, many possible interpretations for the gesture AND what he said. AND the kid could also just be a regular jerk without being a racist jerk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My eight year old flashed this sign in a picture! I was shocked. He doesn't spend time online, so the only thing I could think of is that he picked it up from another kid, who picked it up online or from a sibling. To him, all he knew is that it was something funny/different/cool to do in a picture.

Even if this 12 year old did it on purpose, he's likely just doing it to be a jerk, not because he's a nazi or even racist. He may not even know what it means, just that it's transgressive.

Mine too! When I questioned him he said it waz the circle game. When I told him people use it to mean something else and told him what, he was very upset and insisted I was wrong because kids at recess were doing it and its fhe circle game. When adults do it, I assume they know better. With kids, give the benefit of doubt.

Truth. I started to try to explain it to my 8 year old, but then I stopped, because the explanation made so little sense that I was worried that it would just hurt my ability to have good conversations with him about actual race/gender/religious discrimination issues, and actual racial slurs like the n-word. I just left it as "you could get in trouble if you do that in a picture, and it hurts some people's feelings." Would be easier to explain to a teen. 12 seems like on the border.

You need to do some more reading and research on how to talk with your kids about racism and hate. I have had productive conversations with my just-the dd 6 and 8 year olds and they know that there are words, symbols and gestures that they should never use.

Np and I agree with this except that the OK 👌 sign is so universal that it’s literally an emoji option in my phone! Kids flash this like they do the ✌️ peace sign in photos! Not for any other reason than to be goofballs.

Sure, you can tell them that a few (vile) people have recently hijacked it to mean something offensive, but it’s unlikely to be an issue for most people unless they are hyper-woke-sensitive and looking to find “white power” symbols in everything. Maybe OP has a valid grievance—or maybe she’s just gunningbfir this jerky kid who has been a jerk to her child at camp and hoping that this gesture gives her grievance some weight. But I really think OP should also stop and think about the seriousness of her accusation before barging into the office armed with this “obvious sign of racism” from this photo. There are, in fact, many possible interpretations for the gesture AND what he said. AND the kid could also just be a regular jerk without being a racist jerk.

I agree with what the PP says, but I still think it was appropriate to contact the camp director. I'm sure they would not wish to distribute photos with kids making this symbol no matter what the kids' intent was. Addressing kids mean behavior is a good thing. I didn't know all the history of this symbol, but my kids were in to the "made you look game" a year or two ago. I'm glad to have this info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about the circle game?

What is the circle game?

where was you brought up you don’t know the circle game? It’s in a meme every frickin week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about the circle game?

What is the circle game?

where was you brought up you don’t know the circle game? It’s in a meme every frickin week.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/circle-game/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about the circle game?

What is the circle game?

where was you brought up you don’t know the circle game? It’s in a meme every frickin week.

Never heard of it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the hand gesture?

I’m not a troll and I don’t know what baseball thing someone referred to. The gesture was making the ok sign, but with his arms at his side. This has been classified as a hate symbol.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/kutv.com/amp/news/offbeat/okay-hand-gesture-labeled-a-hate-symbol-by-anti-defamation-league

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/ok-sign-white-power.amp.html

I didn't even know
I would not interpret this so harshly. You need a white power march for it to be racist.
Most likely the kids didn't even know
The rest sounds like just regular kid squabbles when there is a new group.
Kids that age all struggle when placed with people they do not know

As someone that has friends who pledged as Kappas, this is horrible. As usual white supremacists have hatred, steal something well meaning and positive to the black community, and turn it into a fricking HATE symbol. And this little boy has ignorant parents that have him thinking this behavior is amusing. It’s dangerous.

kappa alpha psi hand sign
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=kappa+alpha+psi+hand+sign&t=iphone&iax=images&ia=images



And by the way, everyone who has pledged knows you do not ever claim a fraternal order in any way if you are not a part of it.

Their hand sign is the ok sign. Good for them. Nobody who hasn't pledged gives AF about it frats either way.

[Anonymous]

Circle game. Calm down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So sad to me that you would all rather call OP a liar or her kid a liar instead of realizing there is a huge problem with racism in this country.

But neither the circle game nor the ok sign is racism or a huge problem.

Did you know that some of the most universally understood words, everywhere all over the world, includes Coca-Cola, dollar, and ok? It is one of the greatest contributions to world communication that we've ever made.

Very many full grown adults who just happen to be members of neo-Nazi and neo-Confederate groups have lost their jobs due to flashing the "circle game"/"ok sign" in pictures, often while holding confederate flags.

You are either one of them or really dumb.

[Anonymous]

So weird how people misunderstand this totally innocent hand gesture. I mean it's not like Nazis repeatedly flash it every chance they get, is it? Oh wait...



Here's the neo-Nazi who shot 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand repeatedly flashing this absolutely innocent OK sign to reporters as he is tried for mass murder.



Here are a group of Nazis flashing the sign at a rally.


Here are group of Nazi's flashing the sign at a counter protest to an anti-Nazi rally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So weird how people misunderstand this totally innocent hand gesture. I mean it's not like Nazis repeatedly flash it every chance they get, is it? Oh wait...



Here's the neo-Nazi who shot 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand repeatedly flashing this absolutely innocent OK sign to reporters as he is tried for mass murder.



Here are a group of Nazis flashing the sign at a rally.


Here are group of Nazi's flashing the sign at a counter protest to an anti-Nazi rally.

Yep let’s condemn the pre teen and call him a racist for using a universal sign. What could be the harm. Oh wait....
Hysterical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would calm down and remember that these kids are 11/12, including my own, and that stories often become exaggerated

Umm
No.
I would tell camp director and present the facts calmly but I would not “calm down” about this. And yes the kid is old enough to know that is offensive and if not should have the shit scared out of him so he does in the future.

[Anonymous]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/ok-sign-white-power.amp.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would calm down and remember that these kids are 11/12, including my own, and that stories often become exaggerated

Umm
No.
I would tell camp director and present the facts calmly but I would not “calm down” about this. And yes the kid is old enough to know that is offensive and if not should have the shit scared out of him so he does in the future.

Op - this is what we did and the director responded very well and appropriately and as far as I know the kid was talked to about it. Dd said the boys were being “nicer” this week to others in the group as well.

[Anonymous]

Well let me tell you as an employer if I saw a picture of your white kid as a teenager (not a elementary school student) making an upside down ok sign I would assume it was meant as a white power hand sign. So will military recruiters and other employers because this is widely understood to be a white power sign.

White children are being recruited by white supremacists online and I promise these kids know a lot more about this than you. So you ladies can continue to defend these kids, but if I were you I would teach them not to use it and don't assume its innocent.