‘It’s OK To Be White’ Flyers Taken Down In Wallingford

WALLINGFORD, CT — Flyers that read “It’s okay to be white” have been posted on stop signs and light posts in downtown Wallingford over the past two weekends, according to WTNH News 8.

WTNH News 8 reports that some residents ripped down the signs and police are patrolling the town looking for more. Some residents told WTNH they don’t want to see the controversial signs in their town and want whoever is putting them up to “knock it off.”

The controversy over the flyers comes from the origins of the “It’s okay to be white” phrase, which has become a popular slogan with white supremacy groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The slogan popularized in late 2017 as a trolling campaign by members of the controversial discussion forum 4chan.

“The original idea behind the campaign was to choose an ostensibly innocuous and inoffensive slogan, put that slogan on fliers bereft of any other words or imagery, then place the fliers in public locations,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. “Originators assumed that ‘liberals’ would react negatively to such fliers and condemn them or take them down, thus ‘proving’ that liberals did not even think it was ‘okay’ to be white.

“Whether the original trollers were white supremacist or not, actual white supremacists quickly began to promote the campaign—often adding Internet links to white supremacist websites to the fliers or combining the phrase with white supremacist language or imagery. This was not a surprise, as white supremacists had themselves used the phrase in the past—including on fliers—long before the 4chan campaign originated.”

Lt. Cheryl Bradley told WTNH that while posting the flyers likely doesn’t constitute an actual crime, they don’t want that type of material out there since it’s looking to “incite some people and stir up some problems.”

Town Council Chairman Vincent Cervoni released the following statement regarding the flyers:

Many of us are aware of the racially motivated activity which has occurred in our downtown over the past two weekends. The statement, “It’s ok to be white,” might not in and of itself appear to be racist in nature. However, when one learns that this is the product of a movement by white supremacists, it is easily construed to intimidate those who are not considered white.

As the child of immigrants, I am sensitive to issues regarding race. While Italian immigrants have not in recent history been the subject of discrimination, there have been times throughout history not so distant, when any race, ethnicity, or creed was the subject of division.

We who are Wallingford do not support any discrimination based upon race, color, creed, or national origin. I believe that all sitting with me on this town council agree with this statement.

— Chairman Vincent Cervoni