Thread by @AmeliasBrain

This was in reply to a tweet about keeping oneself sane by avoiding Twitter drama on the weekend. That tweet ended with multiple OK-hand emojis.

I trust the author honestly didn't know about the white supremacy associations. She deleted her tweet in response to Marcy's note.

1/

The OK symbol (👌🏽) was perfectly innocent until recently. Cartoon frogs were fun a few years before that. And the swastika was a spiritual symbol until the 1930s. (Yes, I went there.)

But when hate groups co-opt a symbol or name, the rest of us need to adjust our usage.

2/

Because the targets of hate can't afford to give a stranger the benefit of the doubt.

And in our online lives, most of the people we interact with are at least partially strangers. We only see one side of them, and must judge by hints & clues of their underlying thoughts.

3/

So, back to web dev Twitter & this weekend. Many events & opinions interacted at once, but one thing happened relating to the use of the OK hand gesture.

A while back, @ken_wheeler, a larger than life dev “bro” who's prominent in the React community, used the symbol on stage.
4/

As with Aimee's tweet, he may not have known the issue.

But, thanks to some out-of-context tweets, @heydonworks thought that Ken had used the gesture *again*, after being informed of its associations the first time.

A very different offence, if true.

5/

Heydon has apologized for the factual error, but in the meantime, he riled up a lot of people with a sarcastic tweet:

React devs that don't fit that stereotype were hurt (rightfully, IMO).

React devs who do fit it were enraged & lashed out at critics.
6/

I respect @HeydonWorks for many contributions to web dev & its community, but I'm calling him out for that one.

When well-meaning white boys rock the boat, they're not usually the ones who get knocked overboard by the splashback.

7/

In this case, the splashback seemed to mostly drench @TatianaTMac, who has been very vocal about how tech communities need to actively identify & root out individuals, companies, or environments that actively or passively encourage hateful mindsets.

8/

Passive encouragement is particularly tricky.

Cheerful patriotism can often be a passive encouragement of xenophobia, if not paired with cautions & critique about your country's flaws & the need for embracing other cultures.

More from Tatiana here:

9/

Especially in the American context, bro culture — BBQ & beer & weightlifting & intense, cheery pride in yourself and everything you're involved in — can also present an environment where white supremacist/fascist people think they belong if they aren't explicitly told off.

10/

Which is why those who've previously been the target of hateful abuse are very skeptical of prominent people in tech who embody bro culture — even if the prominent people aren't directly or openly hateful.

As Tatiana has said:

11/

I'm probably not very good at being actively anti-hate.

I know that I'm often oblivious to micro-aggressions and dog whistles designed to embolden the hateful & threaten their targets.

Which is why small actions like Marcy's are so important:

13/

Anyways… If you, like Aimee, try to keep your weekend dosage of Twitter tech debates to a minimum, I hope that has helped clear some of it up.

But, I'm not in the center of this mess, so I may have missed some—or many—of the nuances or ripple effects.

Take care of y'all.
/fin

Addendum: