Three Army cadets sparked a controversy when they flashed a hand gesture during the television broadcast of the Army-Navy game last weekend, but military officials have determined the symbol was not racist in nature.
West Point released its findings on Friday and concluded that three cadets were playing a game known as the “circle game,” which was explained in the report as an “attempt to trick someone else into looking at an okay-like hand gesture below the waist.” Those who are familiar with the game know that the person who tricks someone else into looking at the symbol gets to punch the other person in the shoulder.
Do these West Point cadets think it’s funny to to play the “circle game” on national TV?
Or are they flashing a white power symbol right behind their African-American classmate?
Either way, it’s a good way to get a meeting with the Commandant.
Dumb.
— JJinCONUS (@AmericanJthe) December 15, 2019
Some believed the symbol was one that represents white supremacy.
“The evidence strongly supports a finding that [the cadets] made ‘OK’ hand gestures during the ESPN broadcast of GameDay because they were playing the ‘circle game’ or ‘gotcha game,'” the report says, via TMZ. “There is no evidence that [the cadets] hold any racist of white supremacist views or attempted to communicate such messages by using the ‘OK’ hand gesture on national television.”
Not surprisingly, many people jumped to conclusions before gathering the facts. I can personally guarantee that the “circle game” has been around for at least 20 years, as it was very popular during my middle school years. Though, we did see a fan banned from an MLB ballpark games for flashing the gesture behind a reporter last season.
There will likely be people who still believe the cadets were making a racist hand gesture, but all indications are that was not the case.
