A decades-old mascot modified due to "white power" concerns

Cartoon farmer Herbie Husker in a red cowboy hat removed a racist "hand gesture"

The Nebraska cornhuskers mascot, Herbie Husker, was "modified" after a "clothing supplier and others" raised concerns about the cartoon character using a hand gesture "OK", which has been associated with white supremacy in recent years.

"this hand gesture could, in some circles, represent something that does not represent Nebraska athletics," Lonna Henrichs, Director of Licensing and brand of the Nebraska Sports Department, told Flatwater Free Press.

Herbie Husker, who was born in 1974, has been using the gesture for years, but he will now make the no.1 sign, a gesture that has itself been linked to ISIS terrorists in the past.

Heinrichs explained that concerns about Husker's hand gesture were raised in July 2020, just weeks after the murder of George Floyd, as his death sparked protests at Black lives matter across the country.

"we didn't even want to be associated with the representation of everything someone might think, you know, that means white power," said the brand director.

Some activists have linked the gesture of the "OK" hand to white supremacy, arguing that the symbol is a coded communication between racists.

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The Anti-Defamation League listed the "OK" gesture as a symbol of hatred, explaining that it took on a "new and different meaning" in 2017 when trolls belonging to groups like 4chan used "various benign symbols" in campaigns in the hope that "the media and liberals would overreact by condemning a common image of white supremacist. "

The group added, however, that "particular caution should be used when evaluating this symbol," as most uses are "entirely harmless and harmless".