Last Updated on December 3, 2019
In the Anti-Defamation League’s “Hate on Display™ Hate Symbols Database,” the term “ACAB” appears toward the beginning of the list, meaning “All Cops Are Bastards.”
According to the ADL, “The acronym ACAB stands for ‘All Cops Are Bastards’ and is a slogan of long standing in the skinhead subculture.”
Interesting, the ADL continues that “Because non-racist skinheads (including “traditional” skinheads and anti-racist skinheads) may use this acronym as well as racist skinheads, it should be carefully judged in the context in which it appears.”
In short, the ADL seems to suggest that saying “all cops are bastards” may not be inherently racist, and if it is not said with racist intents, then it may not be a negative thing to say.
Recently, the ADL has come under increased scrutiny for its willingness to list popular Internet memes and anti-violence images as hate speech.
In September, National File reported that the ADL officially placed the OK sign in its hate database, claiming that it has white supremacist ties:
In 2017, an online troll campaign began to trick the media into thinking that the OK sign was a white supremacist one, given how willing they are to decry anything as racist. As expected, the legacy media jumped right onto it, but the ADL themselves did not take the bait, and noted the trolling for what it was.
Despite knowing the entire thing was made up to incense the liberal media, the ADL on Wednesday declared that the OK sign was now an unironic racist symbol, and decided to include it in their hate symbols database.
Also in September, the National File reported that ADL determined that anti-Antifa images are, indeed, hate speech:
After listing the ‘OK’ Hand Symbol and bowl cuts–yes, bowl cuts–as hate symbols; it appears as if the ADL has made another addition: Anti-Antifa images.
In the age of censorship led by elites to determine political outcomes, the ADL has let its mask slip in classifying seemingly innocuous symbols as hateful.
The OK Hand Symbol troll began on internet message boards such as 4chan, but the media and certain groups took issue with the symbol, identifying it with hate and ‘white supremacy.’
It should be noted that the ADL does not consider pro-Antifa images to be hate speech.
