Anonymous wrote:I bet his voting for Trump

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in a federal cube farm. One guy recently put up a confederate flag in his cube, not huge but noticable when you walk by. Can I get him to take it down? Do I go to HR, his boss, or him directly?

When the rest of the employees remove all of their Obama paraphernalia, then he can take his flag down. till then unless there is a policy about this then he has the right to express his beliefs and feelings. And if it offends you, that is your problem.

They're not supposed to have that either. It's called the Hatch Act. The federal building may have the portrait of the sitting President on the wall at the entrance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Federal employment counsel here.

HR would probably come to me for a legal opinion. Federal employees have First Amendment rights that the government (acting as their employer) cannot violate except in certain situations. While I haven't researched this issue and this post isn't a legal opinion, I don't believe that this employee could be instructed to put away his Confederate Flag cube and I also don't believe it's an EEO violation. It alone without more does not create a hostile work environment.

None of that means that other employees or his manager could not encourage him to be more thoughtful, inclusive, or considerate about his choices. But I suspect that is a non-starter. Federal employees are a diverse group and it is his choice to decorate his cubicle, within certain limitations. I don't believe that, legally, he has exceeded those limitations.

What are those certain limitations? There must be more than playboy calendars on the list?

But, I do agree that if BLM stuff is allowed, then his flag should be. Both are things I disagree with but I don't see them as fundamentally different.

Gambit wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime against humanity. Burn the whole building down.

Funny as hell.

Go to HR. it is somewhat minor and petty, the guy is looking to get a rise out of you. But you have to be professional in your response to it. Go to HR and document EVERYthing you say, everything you do, and the responses you receive. Also document any perceived negative blowback from it.

FYI, if your work has not be up to par lately, expect to get a formal negative evaluation in response. You can't go rocking the boat if your own affairs aren't in order.

Anonymous wrote:
"In a national survey in 2015 across all races, 57% of Americans had the opinion that the Confederate flag represented Southern pride rather than racism. A similar poll in 2000 had a nearly identical result of 59%. However, poll results from only the South yielded a completely different result. 75% of Southern whites described the flag as a symbol of pride, while 75% of Southern blacks said the flag represented racism"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_display_of_the_Confederate_flag#Recent_public_opinion

Anonymous wrote:In a cubicle space, I visit, I see the ISIL flag....But, we think nothing of it. Also, DPRK flags, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all of the free speech posters, what if instead of a confederate flag, this employee had a calendar of girls in skimpy bikinis at his desk or nude women from playboy? This would clearly not be allowed, yet these things are legal and asking to remove them would be an infringement of free speech, so to say.

What if instead of a confederate flag, he had the flag of Sweden? The bastards eat reindeer there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Foreigner here. Why is this automatically offensive?
Isn't there a historical angle to this, and not a racist one?

Some make that argument. I don't buy it. While it might be that some do not intend to use it as a racist/hostile symbol, just imagine how you would feel if you were a descendant of slaves and had to see, in your workplace, the symbol of the secessionists who went to war to maintain slavery. Heck, I am not a descendant of slaves and the Confederate flag makes me uncomfortable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

Wasn't the confederate flag not offensive in the 80s? I remember it on the car in Dukes of Hazard and it wasn't an issue. When did it become a symbol of slavery? (I'm just curious, I'm also a foreigner,moved here as a child)

There are two groups who use the confederate flag: those who use it as a symbol of southern pride, and those who use it as a symbol of white supremacy. Back in the '80s, it was a symbol of southern pride. The meanings have blurred considerably since then. This came to a head last year when Dylann Roof posted pictures of himself draped in a confederate flag and then walked into a church and shot nine African Americans during a prayer service. Now, it is very difficult to display that flag and declare that it's only southern pride. Now, it's racist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all of the free speech posters, what if instead of a confederate flag, this employee had a calendar of girls in skimpy bikinis at his desk or nude women from playboy? This would clearly not be allowed, yet these things are legal and asking to remove them would be an infringement of free speech, so to say.

What if instead of a confederate flag, he had the flag of Sweden? The bastards eat reindeer there.

Anonymous wrote:For all of the free speech posters, what if instead of a confederate flag, this employee had a calendar of girls in skimpy bikinis at his desk or nude women from playboy? This would clearly not be allowed, yet these things are legal and asking to remove them would be an infringement of free speech, so to say.