Explosive New Yorker Cover Ignites Debate on Race, Ethnicity and Religion -- And Your Employees Are Talking About It.

I’m sure you’ve seen the news … it’s hard to miss if you’ve turned on a TV in the last two days.   The New Yorker magazine has featured Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the cover of its latest issue with a "satirical" cartoon. And it's no ordinary cover (check it out for yourself).

Obama is dressed like Osama bin Laden.  And his wife is dressed in military gear with an exaggerated Afro – toting an assault rifle to boot.  The two are congratulating each other with a “fist bump” in the Oval Office.  And let’s not forget the American flag burning in the fireplace, or the portrait of Osama himself hanging on the wall.

The New Yorker’s position is that the cover is intended to expose the “politics of fear,” and how it’s being used to undermine Obama’s campaign.

So what exactly is the cover trying to expose and satirize? The lingering rumors that Obama is a Muslim, which links him to terrorism (or terrorist “sympathies”), and which paints him with the new dirtiest word in politics – unpatriotic.  Add this all up, and he’s just not fit for the White House.

There’s a lot of information out there to debunk all these rumors and myths…. I’ll leave it up to you to do some digging.

Employees as "Unpatriotic"?

The New Yorker cover exposes a growing (and in my mind unnerving) trend in America -- that the population can readily be divided into those of us who are patriotic, and those of us who are unpatriotic.  That division gets based on where we're from, what religion we practice and even who we vote for.  And if you think those conclusions aren't being drawn in the workplace, think again.   

My prediction? That some of your employees and managers readily make assumptions about a co-worker's patriotism, even if they need to rely on stereotypes tied to race, religion, and national origin.  Now add that implicit bias into a manager's decision making, or the way an employee communicates with co-workers, and you have a recipe for serious unlawful discrimination.
And rest assured that the media buzz about the cover is going to have employees talking openly about (and debating) volatile issues that cross a whole whack of protected categories.

 So What’s An Employer To Do?

As an employer, you have an obligation to ensure that stereotypes and assumptions like the ones featured by The New Yorker don’t impact your workplace.

So what do your employees need to understand? For starters, that:

• Stereotypes and assumptions based on protected categories have no place at work.

• Managers cannot make decisions based on race, religion, or national origin.

• Patriotism (when linked to a protected category) is not an appropriate criteria for making important employment decisions.

• Harassing people for being "unpatriotic" is never appropriate – even if it’s not linked to a protected category, it's bound to be toxic.

• There's no such thing as "absolute free speech" at work.  Employers can and will limit volatile conversations about race, religion and politics to prevent potential environmental harassment.

As always, achieving these goals consists of two key components -- (1) Well written and distributed policies, and (2) Companion training programs that explain the policies and bring them to life.  These components are never a one-time event.  Policy distribution and mandatory discrimination training needs to take place periodically.

And if you see that New Yorker cover posted to a cubical wall -- or lying around the breakroom -- I'd highly recommend removing it.  While in our personal lives we can argue about whether the cartoon is an effective use of satire, or bottom line inappropriate, your workplace is not the place to have that debate.  It's a sure fire recipe for risk.