Some HOA photos really don’t need much comment. Others cry out for some kind of reaction. I don’t know anything about the Lakewood Springs Homeowners Association but millions of embattled homeowners would agree that this particular sign might be more descriptive than the HOA intends!
Anti-Semitism is vile wherever it pops up. If you’ve read my book, Neighbors at War, you’ll read how the modern HOA movement was started in 1964 just months after the Civil Rights Law was enacted. In other words, Homeowners Associations were started as ‘private clubs’ to keep Jews, Negroes, and Orientals out of white neighborhoods. The language of those whites-only sentiments can still be found in millions of real estate deeds across the country.
Keeping minorities out of ‘private clubs’ worked pretty well for a few decades. One of the heroes of the anti-HOA movement will never know the huge impact he had on the history of civil rights and HOAs. It was Tiger Woods’ victory in the Jerry Pate golf tournament that got the PGA scrambling to make sure it didn’t inadvertently schedule national tournaments in whites-only country clubs.
Back to discrimination against Jews, the latest fascinating court decision comes to us from Dallas. The Highlands of McKamy Homeowners Association tried to stop an Orthodox Jewish congregation from gathering in their neighborhood. And of course, the apparent timing was aimed at getting them tossed out before Passover. That story is linked below.
Ah, Passover. I have an incredibly personal story aimed for the coming Easter weekend, but in the meantime this article from North Dallas really ought to be read by all those who respect and revere the Jewish people.
Some, but not all, will get the message in the short video linked below. But it warmed my heart. And it’s one I’d like to share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Hz4P1m1bZFY
guest blog by Nila Ridings
We’ve seen the stories: No mezuzah allowed on the doors of the Jewish. No angels standing in the rock garden in remembrance of the deceased. Now, it’s no Buddhist symbols or crosses in the flower garden for Chris Bumann who lives in the Covington Bridge HOA in Spring, Texas.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution says the government cannot restrict our free exercise of religion. Yet, homeowners associations in Texas have a law that states they can regulate religious symbols at the homes of their members. EXCEPT, it also says they have to be in compliance with the Texas and United States Constitutions.
Of course, Chris can sue the HOA and take his case all the way to the Supreme Court per attorney Chris Tritico. That’s an option only if Mr. Bumann is willing to fund the legal battle. But even if he gets into court he will inevitably be told that when he signed his real estate papers he essentially agreed that the neighborhood’s covenants superseded his rights under either the state or federal Constitutions. At this point, though, he has 30 days to remove the statues he bought years ago. Or the HOA will get a court-order to remove them at his expense.
He feels bullied. I think he’s right.
Chris, you’ve gotten yourself on the radar screen of Covington Bridge! Selling out is the only way off. Say your prayers for a buyer to come along!
Some news stories are so hilarious and beyond belief they don’t need embellishment.
A Homeowners Association in Orange County, California sponsors an annual fiction writing contest. The Rossmoor HOA says the contest is open to any member of the community with a good imagination and a yarn to tell.
A suggestion: How about a piece of fiction about how peaceful the typical American Homeowners Association is? How about some fiction about the annual HOA meeting being a place where love and neighborliness dominate neighborhood affairs?
On this Easter Sunday, 2013, I just wanted to bring you a good chuckle.
