Company removes employee's poster of King's "I Have a Dream" speech

<p>Political correctness seems to have found another holiday target _ the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.</p><p>Kenn Downer, a driver for poultry company Gold Kist, says he has been commemorating the holiday by posting the text of King's 1963 speech in Washington in the breakroom of the trailer where he works in Athens.</p><p>"I put it up every January and take it down in March," Downer, 44, said.</p><p>This year, his supervisor removed the poster.</p><p>"He said another driver might find it offensive," Downer said.</p><p>Gold Kist spokeswoman Karla Harvill said the manager was right because the poster violated company policy.</p><p>"We protect the rights of our employees to have differing political and religious beliefs," Harvill said. "Therefore, it is our company practice to only allow the posting of materials in our facilities that are required by law or that are strictly related to company-sponsored activities."</p><p>But Downer wondered who would be offended by King's famous speech.</p><p>"All the years I'd been putting it up, every other driver that read it was amazed, because they only knew the last part of the speech," he said. "Why would they get offended?"</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9d0c)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/1/131745