Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 6, 2020

An "OK" symbol magnet, visible just to the right of the tailgate lift handle, was found on a Metropolitan Sewerage District truck July 31. MSD's general manager said the utility is investigating how it got there.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Zee Plotkin)

The Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County is investigating the placement ofa symbol associated with 'white power" on one of its trucks.

On Aug. 3, MSD General Manager Tom Hartye said the incident was "obviously a prank." MSD, a nonprofit utility, doesnot tolerate such placement of a magnet or sticker on its property.

"At first I thought it was a photo shop deal, but we found the vehicle and the magnet was there, and we immediately removed it," Hartye said via email July 31. "We are currently investigating if it was placed by a member of the public or an employee. If in fact it was an employee, there will be swift disciplinary action."

"It indeed does not belong there, not only on a public vehicle but anywhere," Hartye added.

In the follow-up email Aug. 3, Hartye offered more details.

"The vehicle was a fleet support vehicle that remains in the parking lot multiple users, not used often, especially with COVID," Hartye said. "It was an easily moved magnet. The driver in the picture had no idea it was on the vehicle."

While hisinvestigation yielded more details, it has offered "nothing conclusive" about who placed the magnet on the truck, Hartye said.

The magnet, on the upper right side of an MSD Ford pickup truck's tailgate, depicts a right hand making the OK symbol the forefinger and thumb making a circle, and the other three fingers pointing upward.

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The Anti-Defamation League notes that in 2017 the "OK" hand gesture "acquired a new and different significance thanks to a hoax by members of the website 4chan to falsely promote the gesture as a hate symbol, claiming that the gesture represented the letters 'wp,'for 'white power.'"

The three outstretched fingers representa "w," while the circled thumb and forefinger, with part of the hand, make a "p." Ironically, the hoax caught on with some on the far right.

"In the case of the 'okay'gesture, the hoax was so successful the symbol became a popular trolling tactic on the part of right-leaning individuals, who would often post photos to social media of themselves posing while making the 'okay'gesture," the ADL states on its website. "Ironically, some white supremacists themselves soon also participated in such trolling tactics, lending an actual credence to those who labeled the trolling gesture as racist in nature."

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Asheville resident Zee Plotkin said he took the photo of the MSD truck around noon on July 31 on Brevard Road near the Asheville Outlets.

"I posted the photo on the Facebook group, because I was a little infuriated with what I was seeing," Plotkin said, referring to the Asheville Politics page, where the post generated over 100 comments.

MSD handles sewer projects, maintains sewer lines and handleswastewater treatment for Asheville and Buncombe County, but it is an independent agency. Established in 1962 by the state of North Carolina, MSD is a nonprofit, publicly-owned utility.

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Plotkin said if someone placed the magnet on the truck without the employee's knowledge, that's a different issue. But if an MSD employee put it there or condoned its placement, that should result in discipline.

"No need to jump to conclusions, but most certainly this is an issue that should be pursued," Plotkin said.

Hartye said he and several of his staff had to Google the OK symbol's alternate meaning.

"Once we did, it was obviously upsetting," he said.

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MSD investigating 'white power' symbol on truck - Citizen Times

Category: Anti-Defamation League
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