Contextual Hate

In 2017, alt-right activists on alternative social media sites like 4Chan began a deliberate campaign to spread the use of the single-handed gesture. In theory, three fingers form a ‘W’ while the index finger and thumb form a ‘P’ - the acronym for White Power.

The gesture was chosen because of its resemblance to a popular gesture representing “okay”, in the hopes that people would eventually become polarized over whether or not the signal was necessarily racist. In 2019, The Anti-Defamation League officially recognized the gesture as a hate symbol, but emphasizes that “use of the okay symbol in most contexts is entirely innocuous and harmless.”

Short-hand reference to "Ol' Slashy", the flag of Diagolon, a far-right and anti-government militia network. Most often used as a keyboard signature from followers of the movement. Not to be confused with a similar symbol popularized on 4Chan.

1488 (often stylized as 14/88) is a white supremacist dog whistle. “14” represents the Fourteen Words, a white power phrase created by neo-Nazi David Lane, while “88” is used to represent "HH", common shorthand for “Heil Hitler” (‘H’ being the eighth letter in the alphabet).

1488 appears consistently in image memes and in text form in a variety white supremacist movements. It is also a common tattoo among white supremacists, and is used to indicate dedication to neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies.

18 is sometimes used as a coded white supremacist dogwhistle. In these contexts, the number is shorthand for Adolf Hitler's initials, with '1' representing the first letter of the alphabet, A, and '8' representing the eighth letter of the alphabet, 'H'. The neo-Nazi group Combat 18 is one such group that uses 18 as a dogwhistle.

A numeric symbol referring to Adolf Hitler’s birthday on April 20. In some cases, it is also used in reference to the birthday of Maurice Duplessis, the socially conservative Premier of Québec from 1936 to 1939 and from 1944 to 1959. In either case, use of this symbol is often tongue-in-cheek, as it also happens to be an important symbol in cannabis culture. As such, most uses of the symbol are not hateful, and context is highly important in understanding its meaning.

41% is sometimes used as shorthand to reference the findings of 2015 survey by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in which 41% of transgender and gender non-comforming respondants said they had attempted suicide. Following news of the results, the number was recognized as being representative of the discrimination and abuse that transgender and gender non-comforming people, especially youth, face. It is sometimes invoked in transphobic and queerphobic contexts to intimidate and mock targets.

Accelerationism is a process of fast-tracking what is believed to be an inevitable collapse of modern capitalist society. White supremacist accelerationism was popularized by neo-Nazi James Mason in the 1980s newsletter Siege. Mason’s collected works, which favoured the ideas of Charles Manson, saw a resurgence on Iron March forums in 2015 coinciding with the formation of accelerationist groups like the Atomwaffen Division.White supremacist accelerationism involves the use of terrorist attacks, murders, and sometimes sexual violence as a means to hasten a societal collapse. Modern proponents often look to mass killers like Timothy McVeigh (who is often framed as a precursor to the movement’s current tactics), Anders Breivik, and Dylann Roof for inspiration.

A term referring to a controversial categorization of transgender identities devised by sexologist Ray Blanchard. The term refers to alleged sexual motivations for gender transition. These categorizations have faced extensive criticism from transgender rights activists. Accusations of "autogynephilia" are used by anti-transgender activists to depict transgender individuals, particularly transgender women, as potentially dangerous sexual abusers.

American History X (1998) is a crime drama film in which the main character, played by Edward Norton, is a neo-Nazi who joins the prison gang Aryan Brotherhood. Norton's character's likeness - in particular the large swastika tattoo above his heart - and the movie's graphic scenes of neo-Nazi violence have since come into use in online propaganda, despite the movie's anti-racist message.

Originally an apolitical term of praise coined by rapper Lil B, it was co-opted early on by 4chan users, particularly on the /pol/ board, infamous for having been an early home for the alt-right. It is primordially used by hateful elements online to signal their support for hateful ideas and individuals. However, the term has been popularized beyond its far-right origins, and is now a part of the broader Internet culture lexicon. As such, it is important to look at context before determining whether the term is being used in a hateful context.