It's okay to be white

A large white sticker with the slogan on it, wrapped around a lamp post adjacent to an urban sidewalk
A sticker with the slogan publicly displayed in 2017

"It's okay to be white" (IOTBW) is an alt-right slogan which originated as part of an organized trolling campaign on the website 4chan's discussion board /pol/ in 2017.[1][2][3] A /pol/ user described it as a proof of concept that an otherwise innocuous message could be used maliciously to spark media backlash.[4][5] Posters and stickers stating "It's okay to be white" were placed in streets in the United States as well as on campuses in the United States, Canada, Australia,[6] and the United Kingdom.[7][5]

The slogan has been supported by white supremacists and neo-Nazis.[2][1][8] Media coverage of the event, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson asking "What's the correct position? That it's not okay to be white?", was seen as reacting in the way that the trolling campaign had intended.[8]

  1. ^ a b Brooks, Marcus A. (November 1, 2020). "It's okay to be White: laundering White supremacy through a colorblind victimized White race-consciousness raising campaign". Sociological Spectrum. 40 (6): 400–416. doi:10.1080/02732173.2020.1812456. ISSN 0273-2173.
  2. ^ a b Sengul, Kurt (November 2, 2022). "'It's OK to be white': the discursive construction of victimhood, 'anti-white racism' and calculated ambivalence in Australia". Critical Discourse Studies. 19 (6): 593–609. doi:10.1080/17405904.2021.1921818. ISSN 1740-5904.
  3. ^ "Dilbert comic strip dropped: What is the 'It's Okay to be White' slogan used by Scott Adams?". Firstpost. February 28, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  4. ^ McGladrey, Dustin (November 1, 2017). "'It's Okay To Be White' Was A Planned Hate Crime From 4chan Internet Trolls". CFWE-FM. Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Ross, Janell (November 3, 2017). "'It's okay to be white' signs and stickers appear on campuses and streets across the country". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  6. ^ Mealey, Rachel (October 17, 2018). "Here's how 'It's OK to be white' made its way from internet trolls to a vote in our Senate". ABC News. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference adl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference newsweek was invoked but never defined (see the help page).