Flap over costume party winner at Homeland Security.

[Wolfman]

Note how they "massaged" the blackface issue! Does this say anything about the worldview and judgment of some officials (and the culture!) at, of all places, the Department of Homeland Security? God forbid!

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3824931&page=1

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

Note how they "massaged" the blackface issue! Does this say anything about the worldview and judgment of some officials (and the culture!) at, of all places, the Department of Homeland Security? God forbid!

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3824931&page=1

what's even more 'funny' is that her dumb @ss didn't think that her posing for a pic with the guy wouldn't be seen as offensive?

Wow....it will be amazing to see how much longer she keeps her job...


'Julie Myers, assistant secretary overseeing Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, was part of a three-judge panel that lauded the costume, worn by a white employee, last Wednesday. She also posed for a photo with him. '

[Tom Earp]

Hm, if a Fraternity/Sorority, on a college campus, they would have been closed and suspended.

What kind of message does this pass along.

Maybe GLOs can use this as a defense for stupidity!

[macallan25]

Oh......I'm sure she will lose her job........usually happens pretty quickly to white males. Why not white females? Pretty sad someone can't put on a stupid costume without having to apologize about it.

I'm thinking about petitioning the Dave Chappelle show.....his sketches where he dresses up in "white face" are highly offensive and cause me much emotional distress..............and laughter.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by macallan25

Oh......I'm sure she will lose her job........usually happens pretty quickly to white males. Why not white females? Pretty sad someone can't put on a stupid costume without having to apologize about it.

I'm thinking about petitioning the Dave Chappelle show.....his sketches where he dresses up in "white face" are highly offensive and cause me much emotional distress..............and laughter.

Are you equating the goings on in the Bush administration with the skits on the Chapelle Show? You may have something there! But there's only one problem:the intent of their actions is not for comedic effect, or social or political satire; they make decisions which impact the lives of people,even over life and death--it's no laughing matter!

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by macallan25

Oh......I'm sure she will lose her job........usually happens pretty quickly to white males. Why not white females? Pretty sad someone can't put on a stupid costume without having to apologize about it.

I'm thinking about petitioning the Dave Chappelle show.....his sketches where he dresses up in "white face" are highly offensive and cause me much emotional distress..............and laughter.

too late....his reruns only are on...heheheh

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by macallan25

Pretty sad someone can't put on a stupid costume without having to apologize about it.

What has me shaking my head is that someone in her position didn't see how picking that guy as having the "most original costume" and having her picture taken with him just might come back to bite her and the Department.

I guess her costume included a pair of Bad Idea jeans.

[macallan25]

They were at a Halloween party. I'm pretty sure dressing up in a costume isn't a matter of national security.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by macallan25

They were at a Halloween party. I'm pretty sure dressing up in a costume isn't a matter of national security.

Friend,do you have a job? There is such as thing as professional decorum and ethics. Government positions, like the legal profession and others, operate on the basis of public trust and fair play for all. Anything that would compromise that, esp. in the Dept. of Homeland Security, specifically in the Immigration area, is stupid politically and ethically. A couple of weeks ago at my place of employment, we had a staff meeting where my supervisor brought up issues similar to this which revolved around language and culture which she'd received compliants about.

The problem is that people who are likeminded, of the same culture or who have a certain comfort level together, at times, tend to engage in all kinds of "edgy" racial, ethnic, sexual or gender talk and behavior in the workplace, and most people come to accept or tolerate it. (Some won't speak up against it out of a sense of intimidation or a fear of being ostracized.) But this "tolerance" breeds a kind of impunity in the minds of some, where they feel as though they can say what they will and do what they will without there being any negative consequences, professionally speaking. I've had several talks with younger colleagues about these matters; they don't seem to understand quite as well the difference between acceptable speech and behavior in the "street" and a recreational/social setting and in the workplace.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

Friend,do you have a job? There is such as thing as professional decorum and ethics. Government positions, like the legal profession and others, operate on the basis of public trust and fair play for all. Anything that would compromise that, esp. in the Dept. of Homeland Security, specifically in the Immigration area, is stupid politically and ethically. A couple of weeks ago at my place of employment, we had a staff meeting where my supervisor brought up issues similar to this which revolved around language and culture which she'd received compliants about.

The problem is that people who are likeminded, of the same culture or who have a certain comfort level together, at times, tend to engage in all kinds of "edgy" racial, ethnic, sexual or gender talk and behavior in the workplace, and most people come to accept or tolerate it. (Some won't speak up against it out of a sense of intimidation or a fear of being ostracized.) But this "tolerance" breeds a kind of impunity in the minds of some, where they feel as though they can say what they will and do what they will without there being any negative consequences, professionally speaking. I've had several talks with younger colleagues about these matters; they don't seem to understand quite as well the difference between acceptable speech and behavior in the "street" and a recreational/social setting and in the workplace.

Just an FYI....I passed this story on to my s.o. who so happens to work in DHS here in DC...she was shocked ot hear about it and also understands why her section was not allowed to partake in Halloween....hehe....go figger.

[macallan25]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

Friend,do you have a job? There is such as thing as professional decorum and ethics. Government positions, like the legal profession and others, operate on the basis of public trust and fair play for all. Anything that would compromise that, esp. in the Dept. of Homeland Security, specifically in the Immigration area, is stupid politically and ethically. A couple of weeks ago at my place of employment, we had a staff meeting where my supervisor brought up issues similar to this which revolved around language and culture which she'd received compliants about.

The problem is that people who are likeminded, of the same culture or who have a certain comfort level together, at times, tend to engage in all kinds of "edgy" racial, ethnic, sexual or gender talk and behavior in the workplace, and most people come to accept or tolerate it. (Some won't speak up against it out of a sense of intimidation or a fear of being ostracized.) But this "tolerance" breeds a kind of impunity in the minds of some, where they feel as though they can say what they will and do what they will without there being any negative consequences, professionally speaking. I've had several talks with younger colleagues about these matters; they don't seem to understand quite as well the difference between acceptable speech and behavior in the "street" and a recreational/social setting and in the workplace.

In law school, had internships, but no........I don't have a full time job.

I guess the only solution is to not have Halloween parties. Simple as that. It is ridiculous that this is news.

[Kevin]

If the administration had been a Democrat one, this wouldn't have been in the news.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by Kevin

If the administration had been a Democrat one

...it likely wouldn't have happened in the first place...

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by macallan25

In law school, had internships, but no........I don't have a full time job.

I guess the only solution is to not have Halloween parties. Simple as that. It is ridiculous that this is news.

In some cases, this may be the easiet route. On my job, in which I work with people with psychiatric diagnoses, a consumer (client) who is a devout Roman Catholic, asked if the agency would carry him to church to attend special Marian devotional services. His query was rejected.The assistant supervisor, who's also Catholic,explained the ratiionale to the client like this: Suppose, say,a client is a Satanist and wants to attend Satanic rituals and wants the agency to transport him/her? (This was an odious and unacceptable thing to the asst. supervisor, religiously speaking.) This means we'd have to honor their wishes just as we would the Christians, Jews, Muslims and non-believers in our agency. The best solution is that we won't do it for anyone.

Here's a story which reverses the DHS example. A few years ago, when I lived in Southern California, there was a Fraternity brother who was an engineer in the aerospace industry. He was close to retirement in years at the company. Per his dealing with Fraternity brothers as a district official, he was very good hearted yet brusque with an intimidating persona at times, as if he was still a DP (what you white NIC groups call the pledge trainer). This is the way he dealt with people, even on the job. It just so happened that he had a white female underling on his job with whom he motivated her to do her job as if she was a pledge. She complained to the higher ups that she was the victim of harassment and intimidation. Now, when this field was solely a male domain, I suppose you could possible get away with cussin' a slacker out or gettin' on his a@#, but now this is trickier when the employee is a woman and even trickier when your boss is a large African American male. The corporate higher ups basically exonerated him from any wrong doing but fearing litigation and negative press, and weighing the options, decided it was in the best interest of the company to give him an early retirement.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

(what you white NIC groups call the pledge trainer).

Eh, since this is already a thread about race, I'll go there...

NIC is sufficient, you can leave the "white" off, as NIC groups accept people of all races.