The ADL has listed the Pit Bull breed of dog, commonly known for fighting, as a “hate symbol,” joining the ranks of Pepe The Frog, Anti-Antifa symbols, and a series of numbers and slogans.
Since last year’s YouTube series of purges over alleged accusations of “hate speech,” the ADL has taken aim at gamers and the website, Steam.
On the official page, the ADL writes:
The pit bull has long been used as a skinhead symbol, presumably because of its reputation as a “fighting” dog. Many racist skinheads and other white supremacists own or even raise pit bulls. White supremacists use one specific pit bulll [sic] graphic so often that it has become a white supremacist symbol itself. One racist skinhead group, the Keystone State Skinheads (at one time known as Keystone United) even adopted it as part of their logo.
Following the coronavirus lockdown, the ADL has demanded “inclusive and safe” gaming, while expressing a desire to fight “hate and harassment” in video games.
Last year, the ADL was mocked for including certain meme’d phrases to their hate lexicon. These words include “we wuz kangz”–mocking Black nationalist historical revisionism–, “boogaloo”–a comical term for a post-apocalyptic warring society many believe to be on the horizon–, and “13/52”–referring to FBI crime statistics pointing at 13% of society committing 52% of violent crime.
Most famously, the ADL added the popular cartoon frog Pepe onto their list of hate symbols as the capricious amphibian was repurposed to promote right-wing counter-narratives, reaching its zenith in the 2016 US election where some claim that “meme magick” helped propel outsider candidate, Donald Trump, to the White House.
The ADL also added the seemingly innocuous phrase “It’s OK to Be White” to their hate lexicon for its association with dissident right-wing views. Additionally, the media has launched over one hundred outrage campaigns at the appearance of flyers containing the slogan.
