UPDATED: Apartment Company Reminds Black Residents to Keep It Down

By Jia Tolentino | May 29, 2015 | 2:50pm

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Nothing to see here, just a normal sign from a cool residential management company with specific noise control instructions for black people. No big deal at all.

I saw this screenshot via @lenubienne on Twitter, and my immediate response, as yours might be, was it had to be Photoshopped. But it’s from a woman who Instagrammed the flyer from her apartment complex elevator last night. She took a second photo, and a video that shows the flyer clearly. “This is what it means to be black in Irvine,” she says. “Generalizations.” Her friend chimes in: “Blatant racism, with no regard to our personal feelings.”

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“Only two are posted, and it’s just in my building,” she says. “And I’m black. WE ALL BLACK.”

(Shoutout to this girl, though; her nails look great.)

This is the most blatant racism I’ve seen in a minute, and 100% illegal under multiple provisions of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Unruh Civil Rights Act. We’ve called Toscana Management and are awaiting their comment.

Updated: Marty McKenna, a representative for Equity Residential—the publicly traded company that manages 400 apartment complexes in 12 states, including the Toscana Apartments—told me by email, “This flyer was not created or posted by Equity Residential. We are investigating the source. We are outraged by the content and it does not match our core values as a company.” McKenna also told Gawker that “it is unlikely that a Toscana employee would post the notice without the knowledge or authorization of Equity Residential.”

Contact the author at [email protected].

Image via Twitter