Actor and musician Chet Hanks—the son of acclaimed actor Tom Hanks—coined the phrase "White Boy Summer" and even created a rap song of the same name. Now, he's calling out far-right hate groups for co-opting it and turning it into a racist slogan.
Hanks spoke out after the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism released statistics revealing how the slogan "White Boy Summer" has been adopted by hate groups.
The organization said members of the far-right are "adept at bringing their hateful ideologies into the mainstream, especially through the use of social media, and the already-viral White Boy Summer has proved to be the perfect segue for them to spread their bigotry to a wider audience."
It added:
"Every year since 2021, posts with “White Boy Summer” or its abbreviation, “WBS,” on Telegram, a platform known for its use by extremist groups, surge during the summer months. Overall popularity of the term by these groups is steadily growing even during the other seasons."
"Use of the term for propagandizing, organizing events, and recruiting new members has spread transnationally, including in Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States."
Hanks later responded with the following message on Instagram:
“White boy summer was created to be fun, playful, and a celebration of fly white boys who love beautiful queens of every race. Anything else that it has been twisted into to support any kind of hate or bigotry against any group of people is deplorable, and I condemn it."
"I hope that we all can spread love to each other and treat each other with kindness and dignity."
You can see his post below.
The actor's response received a mixed reaction online.
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Despite the actor's best efforts, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism reports that "white supremacists and neo-Nazis have been calling for the destruction of Pride flags, killing ‘n*****s and communists,’ and the creation of ‘more militia[s]’ all under one slogan: ‘White Boy Summer.’"
The organization said "extremist groups including the Proud Boys, White Lives Matter, the Identitarian movement in Europe, and neo-Nazi Active Clubs are all using ‘White Boy Summer’ to spread propaganda, recruit new members, and facilitate targeted hate campaigns including acts of vandalism and hate incidents.”
Hanks himself has previously been called out for his use of racial slurs, for which he said he was "genuinely sorry for the people that I offended" and blamed on the "pressures I’ve dealt with in my life being the son of my dad."
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