The internet is buckling under the weight of Paul Pierce’s alleged gang sign-throwing the other night, with old people across the nation worrying about the menace that is the human hand. (Right now, Pierce’s fingers are second only to video gamers on the list of things ruining America.)
The Herald quotes a preacher who worries that now, kids in Boston are going to start shooting each other. As if they needed the excuse. The Globe, not to be outdone, finds a peace activist who confirms that, yes, what Pierce threw up “definitely can be a gang sign.” Not definitely is, but certainly definitely can be. Maybe. “Even if it wasn’t a gang sign, it gave the appearance that it was.” Ah. Thanks for clearing that up.
Astute Weekly Dig readers know the score, though. Last fall, when I was still helming that august institution’s news and features desk, Chris Faraone did this city a great service: He put forth a white kid’s guide to Boston’s time-honored practice of throwing up threes. Guys are still throwing the sign because, more than anything else, the threes are synonymous with Boston pride. (And when you turn them upside down, they make a B. For Boston. Ahhhhh…)
The three-finger flash — as well as its derivative handshake — has roots in Boston sneaker culture. But as it turns out, the relationship runs deeper. “It’s street shit, and that’s what it is,” TDS Mob and Made Men veteran Cool Gzus says. “Even though it comes from a pair of sneakers, it means a lot more.” …
“When everything else fell off, there was always Adidas,” Geespin says. “It was more of a handshake than anything else – cats would always throw that dap.” “Back in the day, you would catch a bad one if you wore Nikes,” Cool Gzus says. “Even though it’s not like that anymore, the handshake still stuck. It used to be the first three fingers [pointer, middle and ring], but now that’s considered disrespectful. You don’t want to give anyone you love your trigger finger.”
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