The advertisers are either out-of-touch or completely aware of what current cultural trends are across our nation. White supremacy – a concept taught as dead at the turn-of-the century – has returned to the mainstream in force, and media and advertisers are taking notice. American Eagle is testing the waters for its peers under the cover of “edginess,” seeing just how far the Window has now shifted.

This is the underlying issue with the ad. It isn’t that it uses White-identity politics and racial history to sell jeans, but that there might be a defined target group for that advertisement. We know that the core audience of White supremacy in the US is empowered unlike ever before in our lifetimes, feel that this isn’t just edge-lording no matter what the intent.