"88," White Power for "Heil Hitler"

[Mark A Mandel]

On Wed, 28 Aug 2002, Grant Barrett wrote:

#"Thanks to Target, the nationwide department-store chain, students
#across the country may be heading back to school in hip-looking white
#supremacist regalia. The retail giant is selling shorts and baseball
#caps splashed with “EIGHT EIGHT” and “88” – white-power code for “Heil
#Hitler,” because “h” is the eighth letter of the alphabet."
#
#What does this mean to me, who graduated high school in 1988, and
#during the high school class battles, used to shout, "88 is great!"?

Or to ham radio users, who have used 88 as a code for "Love and kisses"
(originally in Morse Code) for many years?

Or to piano players? IIRC, Mandy Patinkin played the role of the piano
player, "Eighty-eight" Keys, in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

Or, relatedly, to jazz singers?
        Baby, let me bang your box,
        Baby, let me bang your box.
        Baby, let me play your eighty-eight,
        Let me play it till the whole house rocks!

-- Mark A. Mandel