Family furious over disturbing ‘white power’ detail in holiday snap

A couple was looking through photos from a family holiday and noticed a shocking symbol of white racism in a photo with their young daughter.

A couple was horrified after they flicked through photos from a family holiday and noticed a disturbing detail in a photo of their daughter with a theme park actor.

Back in March, American couple Tiffiney and Richard Zinger travelled to Universal Orlando, Florida, Fox News reported. During the event, the family’s now seven-year-old daughter, who is both bi-racial and has autism, poised with an actor dressed as Gru from Despicable Me.

It wasn’t until months later that the parents of the young girl noticed a photo showing the character had formed an upside-down “OK” symbol just above her shoulder, USA Today reported.

The Despicable Me actor was sacked after the Zinger family discovered his gesture in the photo. Picture: Richard Zinger

The hand gesture, in which the thumb and forefinger form a circle to show everything is fine, is now widely associated with white supremacy and the far right when the hand is turned downward instead of upward.

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The darker meaning dates to at least 2017, when message boards such as 4chan falsely promoted it as a hate symbol, claiming it represented the letters “wp,” for “white power” according to the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organisation.

It quickly gained popularity among some members of the far right, who posted pictures of themselves making the gesture, the organisation said.

After the Zingers began digging into the matter, they happened upon a video taken at the same time as the picture. The film showed the girl being gestured toward the character, who formed his hands into the symbol while she was standing beside him.

The OK symbol has been recently used by white power groups. Picture: Richard Zinger

Mrs Zinger said the situation was “heartbreaking”.

“We just wanted to take (the couple’s two children) to see the minions,” she said. “Do something special for our family and this person ruined that special warm feeling.”

“It’s more than the ‘OK’ sign,” Mr Zinger added. “A lot of people don’t understand what that sign means.”

A Universal Orlando Resort spokesman confirmed to FOX Business that the actor has since been fired.

“We never want our guests to experience what this family did,” the spokesman said. “This is not acceptable and we are sorry — and we are taking steps to make sure nothing like this happens again.”

This article originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission