[FenderBass]

Michigan police officer flies Confederate flag at anti-Trump protest | Don't Miss This | record-eagle.com

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by FenderBass

Michigan police officer flies Confederate flag at anti-Trump protest | Don't Miss This | record-eagle.com

Conveniently removed. As, I hope, was the police officer, from duty. If a public official does this while on duty (I assume), he has no business being in that job.

[tuebor]

For a long time I've been wondering why we see so many Confederate flags here in Michigan. I asked about it on this thread but got no answers from people who would admit to flying the flag themselves.

[Coldjensens]

I saw some people flying the confederate flag at Greenfield Village. If you go there during the right week, you can ask them.

[belleislerunner]

It's pretty popular in rural areas - for example if you drive up near Romeo/Armada/Richmond/St Clair it's very common to see confederate flags on pick up trucks. Many of them actually also have a plate that says "Heritage not hate".

For people in the country - a rebel flag (akin to Kid Rock style) represented country pride (i.e. you're not a city slicker).

It has nothing to do with race or racial issues. For those people.

[michigan83]

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

It's pretty popular in rural areas - for example if you drive up near Romeo/Armada/Richmond/St Clair it's very common to see confederate flags on pick up trucks. Many of them actually also have a plate that says "Heritage not hate".

For people in the country - a rebel flag (akin to Kid Rock style) represented country pride (i.e. you're not a city slicker).

It has nothing to do with race or racial issues. For those people.

Ehhhh, I don't know if I agree with that. I grew up in one of those towns where some kids had rebel flags flying from pickup trucks. And some of those kids were definitely racist. Openly racist. It didn't take any research to figure it out. I mean yes, their primary reason for liking the flag was more of a "country pride" thing and not racism, but there were certainly some racial prejudices held by those same kids.

[convextech]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Conveniently removed. As, I hope, was the police officer, from duty. If a public official does this while on duty (I assume), he has no business being in that job.

There was a police officer in my local area recently that flew the confederate flag in her yard and she was fired. They swear under oath to protect the people, and by flying that flag the black folks had just cause for believing she might not try as hard to help them, or worse, pick on them.

[Jswee]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Conveniently removed. As, I hope, was the police officer, from duty. If a public official does this while on duty (I assume), he has no business being in that job.

The officer in question was not on duty. He was displaying both an American flag and a Confederate battle flag on the back of his private vehicle, on Veterans day. He has been suspended with pay, pending an investigation.

[Jswee]

Originally Posted by convextech

There was a police officer in my local area recently that flew the confederate flag in her yard and she was fired. They swear under oath to protect the people, and by flying that flag the black folks had just cause for believing she might not try as hard to help them, or worse, pick on them.

If she was actually fired simply for flying the Confederate flag at her private residence, I suspect that the municipality in question will be on the losing end of a lawsuit for wrongful discharge.

The first amendment is designed to protect all speech, regardless of whether it's reprehensible or not. Just because someone takes offense at the expressions or speech of another, does not make it illegal or grounds for being fired. Certainly a police department can and should have guidelines for what an officer can or cannot do while on duty but when they are off duty they are simply a private citizen, no less or more then anyone else and last time I looked flying any kind of flag, whether it's a Confederate flag, an LGBT rainbow flag or any other type of flag which may offend someone, is not illegal.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by convextech

There was a police officer in my local area recently that flew the confederate flag in her yard and she was fired. They swear under oath to protect the people, and by flying that flag the black folks had just cause for believing she might not try as hard to help them, or worse, pick on them.

Originally Posted by Jswee

The officer in question was not on duty. He was displaying both an American flag and a Confederate battle flag on the back of his private vehicle, on Veterans day. He has been suspended with pay, pending an investigation.

I have an issue with at least two issues here:

1. We still have that thing called the 1st Amendment, right? Yes, the Confederate flag is an inflammatory symbol and yes, it may make some people feel unsafe, but so might the Oakland Raiders flag. I'm not equating the two - just saying that there's not a 100% correlation between flying the flag and not doing one's job. As far as I am concerned, the fact that he did it while off duty does make a difference. Not that I like it much, but that's the reality. And how are we to know that he was flying it as a symbol of slavery and segregation and not ol' dumb rural pride?

2. Assuming you dismiss my argument in (1), why was he suspended WITH pay?

(disclaimer: I tend to lean left and am as anti-Confederacy as one gets)