Black residents at an apartment complex in Irvine, California were outraged when someone posted these fliers around the complex targeting them for noise violations.
The fliers were posted on 2 elevators in Toscana Apartments where all residents would see them. The flier began innocently enough, reminding tenants of the peaceful hours when loud music will not be tolerated between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
But the 2nd half of the flier explored unchartered territory by rudely targeting African Americans specifically.
“We also would like to remind our African-American residents to keep conversation volume down and reduce music levels between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m,” the flier read.
Some residents say the fliers were put up in response to numerous noise violation complaints from Caucasian residents about black residents who refused to turn their music down after repeated requests from management.
Residents say management did not remove the fliers in a timely manner, which some saw as management’s implicit approval of the fliers.
One resident, using the Instagram handle @teyent_theequeenb, posted a video of a flier when other IG users doubted the fliers’ existence.
The video went viral on social media, prompting a quick response on Facebook.com from a red-faced Equity Residential spokesperson.
“Neither Equity Residential nor Toscana Apartments created or posted this flier. We are outraged by its content and are actively investigating its source,” the company stated.
The fliers were gone by Saturday, but the flames of racial tension continue to burn on social media and message boards.
Many on social media mocked the musical nature of black people who pump loud bass through speakers at home and in their cars, saying it is reminiscent of ancestral African drums.
While others were remindful that music is universal and noise complaints have been issued against all races and nationalities, not just black apartment dwellers.
One social media user noted that the higher the income requirement of a particular residential community, the less noise complaints were issued because those complexes required more stringent background and credit checks, which filter out the riff raff such as college students who party all night and sleep all day.
