Feds: ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ Flags May Be Racist, Incur Fines

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AUGUST 5, 2016 By Bre Payton

A federal agency is worried an iconic symbol of freedom dating back to the Revolutionary War might be racist. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which decides if something constitutes a “hostile work environment,” is looking into whether the ‘Don’t Tread on Me,’ or Gadsden, flag should be banned from both government and private workplaces, Eugene Volokh writes in The Washington Post.

 

Two months ago, the EEOC decided to investigate the matter after an African-American government employee filed a complaint to the agency about his co-worker, who repeatedly wore a hat bearing the flag.

 

The aggrieved employee said the hat was offensive because the flag on it was designed by Christopher Gadsden, a “slave trader & owner of slaves,” and that it’s a “historical indicator of white resentment against blacks stemming largely from the Tea Party.”