this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2025
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Loooooooool, the fuck?
I was there when it was just used to express mostly sadness and disappointment, and then it became a more malleable thing, used to express other feelings next to your greentext. I don't use the phrase 'media literacy' but this might be one of the few occasions where it actually fits. I don't even understand how one takes "hate speech" from a drawing of an anthropomorphic frog!
And yes, I am, perhaps, an OG.
Some right wing hate groups have adopted the character as part of their tribal language. For some this was enough to tarnish the character in its entirety via guilt by association. Beyond simply using the common meme format within their communities, however, it has been redrawn many times with aged racist stereotypes (such as overly exaggerated lips or noses)--in a sense there are explicitly bigoted "rare Pepes."
All in all the original meme is not hate speech, and many of its uses and references across diverse communities are not intrinsically hateful, but in hate filled communities it is used extensively and absolutely has racist caricatures associated with it. It's a dog whistle.
I was never part of those groups (or even aware of them, so thanks for the info!) and I won't let them "ruin" what I know for a fact started as a simple meme/visual representation of how one feels. In my case, it's just a nostalgic reminder of my depressed NEET days, when at least I could share a laugh with others in my situation thanks to this silly little frog. Racist dummies will be dummies, I guess. ๐คท
Pepe was sort of chosen by the staunchest Trump supporters as their symbol in the wake of his first term. That certainly sparked a controversy, because some folks were only exposed to assholes using Pepe, so they associated you with assholes, if you used Pepe. But other folks liked Pepe as a meme and decided to use it even more, because they did not want it to be appropriated by assholes. So yeah, that's why this question exists.
There's more details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepe_the_Frog#Use_by_the_alt-right
Welp. Yet another reason to hate American politics and their 'far-right' groups!