Baraboo...

[Ben E Lou]

Well that escalated quickly.
Jules Suzdaltsev on Twitter: "If anybody from Baraboo High School in Wisconsin can clue me in on why it appears the entire male class of 2018 is throwing up a Sig Heil during their prom photos - that would be great.

h/t @CarlySidey… https://t.co/Qta3FYllI2"

Auschwitz Memorial on Twitter: "It is so hard to find words...

This is why every single day we work hard to educate. We need to explain what is the danger of hateful ideology rising. Auschwitz with its gas chambers was at the very end of the long process of normalizing and accommodating hatred.… https://t.co/JzWnZub4EP"

[lungs]

I'm about ten minutes from Baraboo. I'm glad I'm on the other side of the school border today

[cuervo72]

I was then told that I should look up videos of Black Lives Matter protestors being hostile towards police,

Both sides!

and that I should get a tougher skin.

Snowflakes!

[lungs]

I can't say I'm shocked, even though Baraboo is actually a pretty reliable blue voting city. There is still a large contingent that embraces the redneck culture in our area. It wasn't at all unusual to see kids driving around with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks until some backlash a few years ago. Of course they like to justify it as not being racist but rebellious. My point over the years is that these kids need a geography lesson along with a history lesson.

When we would face Baraboo in basketball, sometimes our student section would chant "Trailer Trash" which I found to be kind of silly as my town has a pretty damn big trailer park that is in our district. Though it is pretty much smack dab in the middle between Baraboo and Sauk Prairie.

[MrBug708]

While I understand the ok sign has now turned into a white power gesture, its also a stupid game, called the circle game, that kids play to catch people off guard.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

While I understand the ok sign has now turned into a white power gesture,

Wait. Huh?

(srsly, never heard / seen that before)

[Ben E Lou]

This kid is gonna need police protection...

I spoke with the only student who is visibly not comfortable with the “salute”, he provided this statement. pic.twitter.com/HbNBc8xLOK

— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) November 12, 2018

[NobodyHere]

Are we sure the photo is real?

[heybrad]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

While I understand the ok sign has now turned into a white power gesture, its also a stupid game, called the circle game, that kids play to catch people off guard.

Whats the background of this becoming a white power symbol? I'm with you in that this has long been a game of... if you see it you get punched. And that goes back for me many, many years ago as a teenager.

[Ben E Lou]

Here's a fairly decent explanation of the ambiguity and trolling around the symbol..





Does the OK Sign Actually Signify “White Power,� or What?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Here's a fairly decent explanation of the ambiguity and trolling around the symbol..

Literally missed this entirely.

And that's even with a (then) teenager who is pretty good about keeping me abreast of random stuff that he knows will bemuse me.

I had more knowledge of that, whaddyacallit, the angry virgins on reddit thing, than I had about this.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Literally missed this entirely.

And that's even with a (then) teenager who is pretty good about keeping me abreast of random stuff that he knows will bemuse me.

I had more knowledge of that, whaddyacallit, the angry virgins on reddit thing, than I had about this.

It seems to have more traction as a "thing" on Political Twitter than anywhere else. That crowd tends to assume that "everyone" knows that it means "white power," when that's clearly not the case.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Are we sure the photo is real?

I've been following a couple of threads where the locals are weighing in, including at least one parent of one of the boys in the pic. There hasn't been a hint of anyone local saying it wasn't real--just folks explaining that they were waving or it was a joke or that they're good kids, etc. I've also seen screen caps of it from the photographer's web site before it was taken down for there.


In short, there's zero reason to believe it's altered in some way.

[lungs]

It is definitely 100% real.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

I've been following a couple of threads where the locals are weighing in, including at least one parent of one of the boys in the pic. There hasn't been a hint of anyone local saying it wasn't real--just folks explaining that they were waving or it was a joke or that they're good kids, etc. I've also seen screen caps of it from the photographer's web site before it was taken down for there.


In short, there's zero reason to believe it's altered in some way.

Former students coming forward to air some of the school's dirty laundry. If any of the stories are true I think it's safe to say this wasn't a one-off or joke gone bad.

I'm sure parents and school officials are hoping this blows over quickly, but this may get far bigger than they can imagine.

[lungs]

We also had this happen in the past few weeks.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by heybrad

Whats the background of this becoming a white power symbol? I'm with you in that this has long been a game of... if you see it you get punched. And that goes back for me many, many years ago as a teenager.

Yep. We used to do it as a game within a game during class and especially during band. You would do it to catch someone and then punch them, and then the second part - pretty much a challenge - was how hard you could hit someone and them not visibly or verbally react to catch the teacher's attention. We'd walk out of class either holding our shoulders or limping (or both).

[molson]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

This kid is gonna need police protection...

I spoke with the only student who is visibly not comfortable with the “salute”, he provided this statement. pic.twitter.com/HbNBc8xLOK

— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) November 12, 2018

He needs to get out of that town and start his life somewhere new, but, good for him - imagine applying for jobs, they Google you, and this is what comes up....he had an opportunity to show his decency and he was ready and able to do it. We'd all like to think we'd do the same, but, statistically, most of us would go along with the flow, eslt at that age

[Butter]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I had more knowledge of that, whaddyacallit, the angry virgins on reddit thing, than I had about this.

Incels

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by molson

He needs to get out of that town and start his life somewhere new, but, good for him - imagine applying for jobs, they Google you, and this is what comes up....he had an opportunity to show his decency and he was ready and able to do it. We'd all like to think we'd do the same, but, statistically, most of us would go along with the flow, eslt at that age

I admire the hell out of this kid. I suspect it has been his goal to get out of that town for a while, hence his response and not seeming to care how many bridges he burns.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I had more knowledge of that, whaddyacallit, the angry virgins on reddit thing, than I had about this.

I learned about that virgin thing a few months back when one of the shooters was one. That's a rabbit hole I didn't want to go down on the internet.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I learned about that virgin thing a few months back when one of the shooters was one. That's a rabbit hole I didn't want to go down on the internet.

I'd, at least vaguely, heard of such a "movement" (though until the shooting incident I didn't have a clue about the size of it).

(and before anybody even asks) I just used it as an example of something relatively obscure that I'd heard of vs this "ok" thing which I'm hearing about for the first time today.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by lungs

I can't say I'm shocked, even though Baraboo is actually a pretty reliable blue voting city. There is still a large contingent that embraces the redneck culture in our area. It wasn't at all unusual to see kids driving around with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks until some backlash a few years ago. Of course they like to justify it as not being racist but rebellious. My point over the years is that these kids need a geography lesson along with a history lesson.

When we would face Baraboo in basketball, sometimes our student section would chant "Trailer Trash" which I found to be kind of silly as my town has a pretty damn big trailer park that is in our district. Though it is pretty much smack dab in the middle between Baraboo and Sauk Prairie.

I know a bunch of people from the area. Went to school and worked with some when I was living across the river in Minnesota. It's not surprising at all. Like you said, there is a weird embrace of the redneck culture from people who really weren't rednecks.

One of the bizarre things was the complete disregard from drunk driving. It was almost a badge of honor to drive home drunk. DUIs were laughed at. I had a friend who flipped his car on a rural road and was in a ditch with a punctured lung and a bunch of broken bones for like 6 hours. Spent 2 weeks in the hospital. Was back doing the same shit a couple months later. Eventually had to spend a few weeks in jail (although he would be allowed out for work).

Wisconsin is cool but there are some sections that have massive identity issues.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I learned about that virgin thing a few months back when one of the shooters was one. That's a rabbit hole I didn't want to go down on the internet.

Elliot Rodger could be considered part of that group, and he was 2014.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I learned about that virgin thing a few months back when one of the shooters was one. That's a rabbit hole I didn't want to go down on the internet.

I have been doing the incel rabbit hole and uh yeah.. it's plenty.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

One of the bizarre things was the complete disregard from drunk driving. It was almost a badge of honor to drive home drunk. DUIs were laughed at. I had a friend who flipped his car on a rural road and was in a ditch with a punctured lung and a bunch of broken bones for like 6 hours. Spent 2 weeks in the hospital. Was back doing the same shit a couple months later. Eventually had to spend a few weeks in jail (although he would be allowed out for work).

Wisconsin is cool but there are some sections that have massive identity issues.

Not too far from the truth. And I won't lie and say I was never part of the problem.

One positive in the past few years is a program in our community called Bar Buddies. We don't have taxis/uber but the bars and cops got together and put a fleet of vehicles on the road to provide free rides (donations accepted of course) both in town and even out in rural areas. We've been able to reduce OWI arrests by 50% in the communities that have this program. It takes money to run something like this, and the community has stepped up and kept it going. But you are definitely right about the culture. One of my bowling teammates just got out of the pen after doing seven years for Homicide by OWI. Another old bowling teammate went to prison for 5 OWIs. It took five for him to get his life back together, and then he dropped dead of a heart attack at 35 years old.

[lungs]

Dola

So I just put two and two together. The young man in the upper right hand corner that’s gotten attention also two years ago won Junior Fairest of the Fair in our county. For those not familiar, Fairest of the Fair has traditionally been a pageant for girls. Given some of the grief he undoubtedly got from that, I think he’s developed some pretty thick skin. A pretty solid young man.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

This kid is gonna need police protection...

I spoke with the only student who is visibly not comfortable with the “salute”, he provided this statement. pic.twitter.com/HbNBc8xLOK

— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) November 12, 2018

This part was pretty alarming: "The photographer took the photos telling us to make the sign"

Who the heck was this photographer and why isn't he getting any of the grief. Growing up in redneck Southern IL, I certainly knew my fair share of kids who would have fallen into this type of crew. But, if the photographer goaded the kids on to do this, this story should look at that. I have no doubt that many of these kids are bullies who have been parented to be atleast slightly racist (if not more), but I'm beginning to think that they didn't come up with this on their own. I'd be shocked if even 50% of the kids knew what that "salute" really represented.