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Herbie Husker no longer uses the OK sign
For almost 50 years, Herbie Husker has worn blue overalls, sported a big red cowboy hat and kept an ear of corn in his pocket.
For almost all that time, Herbie Husker has held a football in one hand and thrown up an “a-OK” sign with the other.
Now, Herbie’s left hand shows “we’re number one.”
The reason for that slight switch: Modern white supremacy. Internet trolls and hate groups have tried to turn the OK sign into a symbol of white power, claiming that the three fingers up form a W and the circle and wrist form a P.
This new meaning of “OK” was brought to the attention of Lonna Henrichs, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln athletic department’s licensing and branding director, in July 2020, just weeks after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. Floyd’s murder prompted racial reckoning and protests across the country — including counterprotests where members of hate groups flashed the sign.
“That hand gesture could, in some circles, represent something that does not represent what Nebraska athletics is about,” Henrichs said. “We just didn’t even want to be associated with portraying anything that somebody might think … means white power.
“We made that change as quick as we could.”
For almost 50 years, Herbie Husker has worn blue overalls, sported a big red cowboy hat and kept an ear of corn in his pocket.
For almost all that time, Herbie Husker has held a football in one hand and thrown up an “a-OK” sign with the other.
Now, Herbie’s left hand shows “we’re number one.”
The reason for that slight switch: Modern white supremacy. Internet trolls and hate groups have tried to turn the OK sign into a symbol of white power, claiming that the three fingers up form a W and the circle and wrist form a P.
This new meaning of “OK” was brought to the attention of Lonna Henrichs, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln athletic department’s licensing and branding director, in July 2020, just weeks after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. Floyd’s murder prompted racial reckoning and protests across the country — including counterprotests where members of hate groups flashed the sign.
“That hand gesture could, in some circles, represent something that does not represent what Nebraska athletics is about,” Henrichs said. “We just didn’t even want to be associated with portraying anything that somebody might think … means white power.
“We made that change as quick as we could.”
