A theme park worker was fired for flashing the OK hand sign while posing for a picture with two biracial children.
The unidentified Universal Studios Orlando employee was dressed as Gru from Despicable Me when he took a picture with Tiffiney Zinger's children and another worker who was dressed as a minion. Zinger is Black and her husband, Richard, is white. Their daughter and son were six and two years old at the time.
The couple reviewed a video of the moment, and it confirmed the actor did it on purpose.
"He put his hand on her as if he was just doing it regular, and as I was looking at the camera, he started to put the universal white supremacist hate sign on her shoulder," Zinger explained to USA Today. "We just wanted to take them to see the Minions, do something special for our family, and this person ruined that special warm feeling."
The trip happened in March, a week after New Zealand massacre gunman Brenton Tarrant made the gesture during his first court appearance. The couple didn't notice it until August.
"It's more than the 'OK' sign," Richard said. "A lot of people don't understand what that sign means."
The OK hand signal was recently added to the Anti-Defamation League's database of hate symbols, as Blavity previously reported. It is often used in pictures as an inside joke among white supremacists. It started as a 4chan hoax, but white supremacists eventually embraced it.
"It's a game for them to slip their hate symbols in contexts that don't belong," Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project at Southern Poverty Law Center, told USA Today.
Tiffiney believes what should have been a fond family memory was tarnished. Her daughter is autistic, and she worries about how this will affect her.
"I've been emotionally distraught about it," she said. "I'm still pretty upset that someone felt they needed to do this to children. It can cause emotional stress on my child and her development."
The couple contacted the theme park but didn't hear anything for a month. When they contacted Universal again, they were told it was "proprietary information" and offered free tickets and a gift card.
Universal Studios Orlando confirmed the actor was fired in a statement to USA Today.
"We never want our guests to experience what this family did. This is not acceptable and we are sorry – and we are taking steps to make sure nothing like this happens again," a spokesperson said.
"We can't discuss specifics about this incident, but we can confirm that the actor no longer works here. We remain in contact with the family and will work with them privately to make this right."
The family isn't seeking financial compensation, but they hired a lawyer after a corporate lawyer reached out to them. The Zingers only want accountability.
"I just want somebody to take responsibility for it because nobody is taking responsibility for anything," Richard said.
"I want to cause change," Tiffiney said. "I hope this doesn't happen to another family again, and I pray that this doesn't happen to another kid."
