Anti-Defamation League Declares Pepe the Frog a Hate Symbol - Polidicks

[quote=TIME]The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has declared a popular internet meme depicting a cartoon frog to be a hate symbol. “Images of the frog, variously portrayed with a Hitler-like moustache, wearing a yarmulke or a Klan hood, have proliferated in recent weeks in hateful messages aimed at Jewish and other users on Twitter,” the ADL wrote in a [URL="https://twitter.com/JackSmithIV/status/780872297079050241/photo/1"]statement[/URL]. “Once again, racists and haters have taken a popular Internet meme and twisted it for their own purposes of spreading bigotry and harassing users,” wrote ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt.[/quote] [URL]http://time.com/4510849/pepe-the-frog-adl-hate-symbol/[/URL] this is what we've come to Edit: [quote=The ADL]Also known as: Sad Frog Pepe the Frog is a cartoon character that has become a popular Internet meme (often referred to as the "sad frog meme" by people unfamiliar with the name of the character). The character first appeared in 2005 in the on-line cartoon Boy's Club, created by artist Matt Furie. In that appearance, the character also first used its catchphrase, "feels good, man." The Pepe the Frog character did not originally have racist or anti-Semitic connotations. Internet users appropriated the character and turned him into a meme, placing the frog in a variety of circumstances and saying many different things. Many variations of the meme became rather esoteric, resulting in the phenomenon of so-called "rare Pepes." [B]The majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted.[/B] However, it was inevitable that, as the meme proliferated in on-line venues such as 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit, which have many users who delight in creating racist memes and imagery, a subset of Pepe memes would come into existence that centered on racist, anti-Semitic or other bigoted themes. In recent years, with the growth of the "alt right" segment of the white supremacist movement, a segment that draws some of its support from some of the above-mentioned Internet sites, the number of "alt right" Pepe memes has grown, a tendency exacerbated by the controversial and contentious 2016 presidential election. Though Pepe memes have many defenders, not least the character's creator, Matt Furie, who has called the alt right appropriation of the meme merely a "phase," the use of racist and bigoted versions of Pepe memes seems to be increasing, not decreasing. However, because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context. The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is racist or white supremacist. However, if the meme itself is racist or anti-Semitic in nature, or if it appears in a context containing bigoted or offensive language or symbols, then it may have been used for hateful purposes.[/quote] the time article took out some context, so here it is. not as bad as the article made it sound

What a time to be alive

No more fun eh?

[I]This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang, but with meme magic[/I] [QUOTE] “Once again, racists and haters have taken a popular Internet meme and [B]twisted it for their own purposes[/B] of spreading bigotry and harassing users,” wrote ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt. [/QUOTE] Well, at least it's good they recognize that.

I'm having flashbacks to Fox New's "hackers on steroids" with how the media is overblowing this shit.

I never liked the meme in the first place, but Pepe doesn't deserve to end up like this

good lord it's a green FROG

With the [QUOTE=]"the character has been co-opted by a faction of Internet denizens who decided to reclaim it from the mainstream, and began sharing it in anti-Semitic contexts." [/QUOTE] and [QUOTE=]"Once again, racists and haters have taken a popular Internet meme and twisted it for their own purposes of spreading bigotry and harassing users,"[/QUOTE] Can't we twist anything in to a expression of what we don't like because of a minority? Is the TriHard twitch emoticon a racist symbol because users on twitch spam it when they see a black man on stream?

So if pepe represents the right, who represents the left? Harambe?

[QUOTE=Megadave;51119390]So if pepe represents the right, who represents the left? Harambe?[/QUOTE] Nah, "Dicks Out for Harambe" is a micro-aggression so that wouldn't be kosher.

[QUOTE=Megadave;51119390]So if pepe represents the right, who represents the left? Harambe?[/QUOTE] [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/HLobtEc.jpg[/thumb] He died for the revolution. The real answer is I think that the far left meme depends on the website, for example on 8chan it's max stirner and bunkers. Actually yeah I think they actually just generally use the historical figures

[url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-on-display/c/pepe-the-frog.html#.V-sgNigrKUk]Actually, this is what ADL said this about Pepe[/url]: [quote][B]The majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted. [/B]However, it was inevitable that, as the meme proliferated in on-line venues such as 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit, which have many users who delight in creating racist memes and imagery, a subset of Pepe memes would come into existence that centered on racist, anti-Semitic or other bigoted themes.[/quote] [quote][B]However, because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context. The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is racist or white supremacist.[/B] However, if the meme itself is racist or anti-Semitic in nature, or if it appears in a context containing bigoted or offensive language or symbols, then it may have been used for hateful purposes. [/quote] Time is misrepresenting the facts here.

what a great addition to an old avatar tbh

You either die a hero or live to become the villain.

I wonder why the article doesn't link to [URL="http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-on-display/c/pepe-the-frog.html"]the actual page[/URL][URL="https://archive.is/tumiF"].[/URL] [quote=The ADL][...] However, because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context. The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is racist or white supremacist. However, if the meme itself is racist or anti-Semitic in nature, or if it appears in a context containing bigoted or offensive language or symbols, then it may have been used for hateful purposes.[/quote] They're surprisingly sensible about it. (What's with the extra spaces though?)

[QUOTE=Fangz;51119408][url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-on-display/c/pepe-the-frog.html#.V-sgNigrKUk]Actually, this is what ADL said this about Pepe[/url]: Time is misrepresenting the facts here.[/QUOTE] well that seems more sensible, though kind of redundantly obvious. "if a meme is racist, then it might be racist"

[quote] However, if the meme itself is racist or anti-Semitic in nature, or if it appears in a context containing bigoted or offensive language or symbols, then it may have been used for hateful purposes.[/quote] Wow, this is actually really reasonable They even recognize that not all usages of Pepe, even as a nazi, mean that the poster unironically agrees with the message. Too bad Time fucked up reporting on it terribly.

Has the author of Boys Club said anything about Pepe becoming a hate symbol?

[QUOTE=FunnyStarRunner;51119511]Has the author of Boys Club said anything about Pepe becoming a hate symbol?[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.techinsider.io/this-guy-created-one-of-the-most-famous-memes-heres-why-hes-kinda-pissed-off-2015-7[/url] [QUOTE]This guy created the frog meme that's all over the internet — here’s why he’s ‘kinda pissed off'[/QUOTE]

What's one of the first rules about using the internet again? Oh, that's right. [I]"Don't feed the trolls."[/I] Good job, ADL. You've successfully given the trolls all the sustenance they need for quite some time.

Oh fuck off with this shit. No one gave a shit about this frog outside the internet until this election. They're only doing this to flex their morality muscles and pat themselves on the back for doing such a good job. Instead of tackling real issues they just attack a fucking meme. The self righteous heroes of the world need to understand that people on the internet are gonna say and do stupid stuff. You aren't going to stop people from posting this frog just because you say it's bad. Welcome to the web, your feelings are gonna get hurt so suck it up.

Before you idiots fly off the handle, read the actual entry in their database. [quote]Also known as: Sad Frog Pepe the Frog is a cartoon character that has become a popular Internet meme (often referred to as the "sad frog meme" by people unfamiliar with the name of the character). The character first appeared in 2005 in the on-line cartoon Boy's Club, created by artist Matt Furie. In that appearance, the character also first used its catchphrase, "feels good, man." The Pepe the Frog character did not originally have racist or anti-Semitic connotations. Internet users appropriated the character and turned him into a meme, placing the frog in a variety of circumstances and saying many different things. Many variations of the meme became rather esoteric, resulting in the phenomenon of so-called "rare Pepes." [B]The majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted.[/B] However, it was inevitable that, as the meme proliferated in on-line venues such as 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit, which have many users who delight in creating racist memes and imagery, a subset of Pepe memes would come into existence that centered on racist, anti-Semitic or other bigoted themes. In recent years, with the growth of the "alt right" segment of the white supremacist movement, a segment that draws some of its support from some of the above-mentioned Internet sites, the number of "alt right" Pepe memes has grown, a tendency exacerbated by the controversial and contentious 2016 presidential election. Though Pepe memes have many defenders, not least the character's creator, Matt Furie, who has called the alt right appropriation of the meme merely a "phase," the use of racist and bigoted versions of Pepe memes seems to be increasing, not decreasing. However, because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context. The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is racist or white supremacist. However, if the meme itself is racist or anti-Semitic in nature, or if it appears in a context containing bigoted or offensive language or symbols, then it may have been used for hateful purposes. [/quote] Seems about right. Quit throwing a fit about it. OP, could you possibly append this to your post? It's more relevant information, so it's better for preventing stupid knee-jerk reactions from Time's editorializing.

[QUOTE=Fangz;51119408][URL="http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-on-display/c/pepe-the-frog.html#.V-sgNigrKUk"]Actually, this is what ADL said this about Pepe[/URL]: Time is misrepresenting the facts here.[/QUOTE] That's a far more nuanced viewpoint than the Time article presents and frankly one I can agree with.

It's pretty obvious that the media, and mainstream culture as a whole just doesn't get 4chan. Hell, I saw a book about Anonymous at my local library today. Half of it was just the author trying to take 4chan posts at face value, completely seriously. It was cringey as hell.

take back pepe

They're saying that it [I]can[/I] be used as a hate symbol, which is pretty plainly obvious to most people honestly. Nobody actually thinks it's inherently a hate symbol, but it absolutely can be in certain context and is semi-regularly used as a white supremacist/alt-right symbol in those contexts. Dunno why people have their pitchforks out - you literally almost only see Pepe on /pol/ anymore or maybe crying Pepe on feels threads elsewhere on 4chan or maybe the red yelling one on /r9k/ or something. A fair percentage of its usage is directly related to genuine white supremacy.

[QUOTE=LTJGPliskin;51119623]It's pretty obvious that the media, and mainstream culture as a whole just doesn't get 4chan. Hell, I saw a book about Anonymous at my local library today. Half of it was just the author trying to take 4chan posts at face value, completely seriously. It was cringey as hell.[/QUOTE] Yeah sure but /pol/ isn't ironic anymore. And really this is pretty fair. How often do you even see Pepe anymore besides /pol/ users.

[QUOTE=Fangz;51119408][url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-on-display/c/pepe-the-frog.html#.V-sgNigrKUk]Actually, this is what ADL said this about Pepe[/url]: Time is misrepresenting the facts here.[/QUOTE] Wow, the internet is ignoring context and nussance again? Well slap me silly.

kinda pointless to add it to the database, though If the image/post is racist, then the image/post is racist. Duh. Whether or not Pepe is in it is pretty irrelevant.

Where's the fucking winner rating