Homeowners Associations and Good Neighbors

From the minute this campaign started we have been focused on a black man running for President. We all stand up and say, racism is not a big deal in this country anymore. Yet story after story focuses on that very issue. Not only do we hear about Barack Obama continuously and the black issue, it seems that because of the spotlight being on this issue, more and more stories are coming out about black people still being mistreated.

In Colorado Springs last week, 14 year old Brandon Johnson was accused of vandalism of an area neighbors house. He was accused not through any actual evidence but because he was black. The people who were making the accusations never bothered to FIND facts, they just ASSUMED. They allowed the opinion of another child to determine the validity of the charges. Then to make bad even worse, the mother, a grown woman, sent a text to over 100 neighbors saying that Brandon had committed the crimes and it was a fact.

The neighborhood Brandon lives in is Pine Creek Village. This is an over the top, prestigious development, mainly set up for retired military and the elite of Colorado Springs. They have an outrageous homeowners association and are not very family oriented to begin with. You are not even allowed to plant a flower unless you get prior approval.

The crime, a house in the area that was vandalized and some graffitti on the bridge at the golf course prompted this obviously Spanish family to attempt to be a one family vigilante group without any evidence or confirmation from the police. The house that was vandalized was damaged at an estimated $17,000.

Mary and Elcio Silva(President of the Golf Club) took it upon themselves to be judge and jury of this teenager. Mary Silva distributed what she thought was Brandon' photo along with an email to all of the homeowners in the area. She said Brandon was trying to start a gang in the neighborhood and he was responsible for the vandalism of the home and the golf course. When the email was checked out, it was actually Brandon's brother in the outdated photo and it was retrieved from the family's Karate web site.