Charlie and Dawn Price have been threatened with eviction from their apartment for displaying an American flag in their window.
From the Oshkosh Northwestern:
While American flags across the country will be proudly displayed this holiday weekend as a tribute to those who gave their lives while serving their country, one Oshkosh couple is being told they must take their flag down.
Dawn and Charlie Price have been told by their apartment's management company that they must take down an American flag they have hanging in the dining room window of their west-side apartment by Saturday or face eviction.
For Charlie Price, a 28-year-old veteran who served tours of duty in Kosovo and Iraq, and his wife Dawn, the flag is a way to honor Charlie Price's military service along with those he served alongside.
"This is the time we will be looking at the flag and Charlie will be looking at the family he lost," Dawn Price, 27, said. "This is his way to remember them and honor the people served and the ones that made the ultimate sacrifice."
On Friday the Prices learned the American flag that has been hanging in their dining room window since November violated a management company rule prohibiting the display of flags, banners and political or religious material.
Midwest Realty Management, the company that manages Brookside Apartments on Westfield Street, said the company has respect for all people who serve in the military. The no flag rule is in place to provide a comfortable and consistent living environment for all apartment residents, the company said in a statement e-mailed to The Northwestern.
"This policy was developed to insure that we are fair to everyone as we have many residents from diverse backgrounds. By having a blanket policy of neutrality we have found that we are less likely to offend anyone and the aesthetic qualities of our apartment communities are maintained," the statement said.
"A blanket policy of neutrality?"
This IS America. We're talking about the American flag.
If apartment residents can't handle seeing the American flag, then they're living in the wrong country.
From FOX News:
An Army veteran in Wisconsin will be allowed to display an American flag until Memorial Day, but the symbol honoring his service in Iraq and Kosovo must come down next Tuesday, his wife told FoxNews.com.
Dawn Price, 27, of Oshkosh, Wis., said she received a call from officials at Midwest Realty Management early Wednesday indicating that she and her husband, Charlie, would be allowed to continue flying the American flag they've had in their window for months through the holiday weekend. The couple had previously been told they had to remove the flag by Saturday or face eviction due to a company policy that bans the display of flags, banners and political or religious materials.
"It's basically an extension so we can fly the flag on Memorial Day," Price told FoxNews.com. "It does need to come down after that."
How gracious of Midwest Realty Management officials to allow Charlie and Dawn Price to display the American flag through Memorial Day!
If the officials think that move will satisfy veterans and supporters of the troops, they are mistaken.
Only in America would displaying the American flag in a respectful, appropriate fashion be deemed an unacceptable political statement.
It boggles the mind.
...Dawn Price said she now works to amend the federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, which states no "condominium association, cooperative association, or residential real estate management association" may stop someone from flying the American flag. The law, however, does not apply to renters.
"This has been eating at us since Friday," she said. 'The best way to fight this isn't getting an eviction and going after these people in court. That's just going to cost us a lot of time, energy and money."
Instead, Dawn Price said she either intends to place a curtain between the flag and the apartment window to block it from onlookers or will move it to a rear balcony come next week.
"We don't want to fight the eviction," she said. "We know we'd lose."
Officials at Midwest Realty Management, which manages Brookside Apartments, where the Prices live, did not return several messages seeking comment.
It's nauseating that some in our country, specifically Midwest Realty Management, see the American flag as a political statement, aesthetically unpleasing, and potentially offensive.
3 comments:
While it pains me to say this, it is an apartment complex belonging to a private entity who is free to set rules they way it wants. If it says the flag has to go, who am I to dispute it? (Where's Rachael Maddow to trash me?)
Why does it pain you to say that?
Why would Rachel Maddow trash you?
I understand Jim's pain. I am the first to defend someone's right to display their flag on their own property, even when it's offensive. However, they don't live on their own property. They are renting, and the management has a rule about what hangs in the window. I don't think the management company cares what kind of flag, just that it's a flag, and flags aren't allowed in the windows. That (presumably) includes not just country flags, but flags with ladybugs and rainbows and unicorns too. It is their building, and the renters do agree to abide by the rules of the building when they choose to rent. I think if they just want a flag hung up to honor the husband's military service, they should hang it on their wall where only those inside see it, or buy a small flag stand, and display it that way in the apartment. And then save up their money to buy their own house, where they can do what they want. I think it's a bit silly to make a huge case out of it, and I mean no disrespect toward them, or toward our military, or toward our country or flag, when I say that. Bless him for his service to us all, and bless her for being so proud of him and for standing up for her convictions!
Post a Comment