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DISCRIMINATION
– ALIVE AND WELL!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
January 25, 2013
I
have lived and worked in many different countries all over the
world, but nowhere was discrimination so much alive and well is
here in the
USA
. I actually think that discrimination gets worse the more laws
against discriminations are being enacted.
Discrimination
is in my opinion a daily occurrence in many of
Florida
’s community associations. Approving new owners and/or renters
are the issues where discrimination is most common. The race –
or religion – of the folks in charge often determines if new
renters or owners are approved. Some of the members of these
“approval” committees are not even afraid to say so. If you
read some of the cases that made it to court, you’ll find
testimony that even racial slurs are being used to tell
applicants that their race or religion isn’t really
“wanted” in the community.
Many
complaints regarding discrimination are obvious when it comes to
selective enforcement of the CC&Rs. You wouldn’t believe
the stories I have heard over the years. Hispanics and Blacks
are often targeted with violation letters and fines – just
because the folks on the board would like to see them
“leave.” Sometimes violations are even invented, just to
harass “unwanted” neighbors. I have heard cases where
“outsiders” were bombarded with violation letters and fines,
while the “buddies” of the board members could do wrong.
This
is one of the downsides of the community association system. It
often gives “petty” people power they can’t really deal
with.
But
even if the nation officially celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.
Day on Monday – Discrimination is still alive and well in our
nation.
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