The character may acquire started out as an harmless emblem of slackerdom – but it’s now an icon for racist and antisemitic groupsPepe the Frog originated as an innocuous cartoon character in 2005. This week,he was added to the Anti-Defamation League’s database of hate symbols. At first glance, it may seem more than a slight unique that the image of a cartoon frog could stop up alongside such notorious symbols as the Blood Drop Cross of the Ku Klux Klan. But the evolution of Pepe the Frog actually illustrates a key aspect of hate symbols: many such images do not actually begin as hate symbols. We maintain this database as part of our work to track hate groups and help law enforcement, and educators and other members of the public to identify those symbols that serve as potential calling cards of extremists and antisemites. What we acquire learned is that,often, symbols slowly evolve in that direction or are appropriated by extremists from their original context and assigned a new, and more hateful meaning.
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Source: theguardian.com