Chicago Cubs take 'offensive hand gesture' seriously

On a chilly Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, the cameras cut to former outfielder Doug Glanville, now an analyst for NBC Sports Chicago. As Glanville praised the Chicago Cubs' resurgent offense, a bearded fan in the background mugged for the camera.

Then the fan in a Cubs hoodie formed his hand into an upside-down "OK" sign, holding it next to Glanville's head until the camera cut to a graphic.

To many viewers, the gesture was reminiscent of one recently adopted as a symbol of white power flashed by far-right militia members and by the terrorist who killed 50 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand.

The Cubs investigated what they called the "offensive hand gesture" and threatened to ban the fan for life.

Early Wednesday night, Crane Kenney, the Cubs' president of business operations, released the following statement:

"We have investigated the incident that occurred at Wrigley Field on May 7, 2019, where an individual was observed on camera using an offensive hand gesture that is associated with racism. The long-standing Chicago Cubs Guest Code of Conduct is in place to ensure a safe, comfortable and enjoyable environment for all fans and prohibits unacceptable behavior. After a review of last night's broadcast footage, we concluded this individual's actions violated the Guest Code of Conduct.

"As a result, after repeated attempts to reach this individual by phone, we sent a letter to the individual notifying him of our findings and our decision that, effectively immediately, he will not be permitted on the grounds of Wrigley Field or other ticketed areas indefinitely. We further communicated if he attempts to enter Wrigley Field or other ticketed areas he may be subject to prosecution for criminal trespass to property.

"We are not disclosing the name of the individual to the general public and will not be making any further comment on the matter."

The case marks the latest high-profile emergence of the hand symbol and suggests yet again how thoroughly troubling language and memes pushed by the alt-right and adopted by hate groups have infiltrated American culture.

But such gestures, which can run the gamut from ironic jokes to long-running games to outright symbols of intolerance, also are notoriously difficult to interpret.

The "OK" hand gesture as a symbol of white intolerance apparently started as a joke by trolls on the 4chan message board in early 2017, as The Washington Post's Eli Rosenberg and Abby Ohlheiser reported. The idea, according to message boards uncovered by BuzzFeed News, was to trigger liberals and trick the media by pretending he widely used hand signal had a secret racist meaning.

But as the tongue-in-cheek movement grew, the gesture was appropriated by those who really did use it as a sign of white supremacy. It now has become ubiquitous at far-right gatherings, the Southern Poverty Law Center notes, making it nearly impossible to untangle its ironic use from those meaning it as a straightforward slur. That's actually the idea.

"The point of the stunt would be to get liberals wound up, so they can then claim that liberals are just imagining things," noted Salon writer Amanda Marcotte in September. "That was what the OK symbol was literally invented to do: Both serve at a white supremacist symbol and also one that is just ordinary-enough looking that when liberals expressed outrage, the white supremacist could play the victim of liberal hysteria."

Even that level of nuance, however, seemed lost in March when the hand gesture was flashed in a New Zealand courtroom by Brenton Tarrant, the Australian terrorist who attacked two mosques and espoused a racist, Islamophobic worldview.

The fact that the fan Tuesday used the symbol behind Glanville, who is black, only adds to the suggestion that it was meant as a racist gesture.

It comes at a delicate moment for the Cubs, who have faced backlash after racist and Islamophobic emails sent and received by Joe Ricketts, the billionaire patriarch of the family who owns the franchise and Wrigley Field, were published in February. Ricketts has since apologized and his family has noted that he plays no active role in team management.

Kenney earlier Wednesday pledged that the team would take the on-air gesture seriously.

"Any derogatory conduct should be reported immediately to our ballpark staff," he said. "Any individual behaving in this manner will not only be removed from the ballpark, but will be permanently banned from Wrigley Field."