North Texan Fights HOA To Fly Confederate Flag
EULESS (CBSDFW.COM) - They're red, white and blue but unwelcome tonight in a North Texas neighborhood.
Confederate flags are on both sides of Evan Richards car. Another hangs behind his front window and the one on his garage keeps getting stolen. He says they are there to prove a point.
"It's just political correctness run amok," says Richards.
The 62-year-old says his affection for what many consider a racist symbol began over the summer when a mass shooting at a Charleston church reignited the controversy over it.
"Things like the Dukes of Hazard were taken off, anything with the Confederate flag on it was taken off shelves of stores and I thought this was ridiculous," says Richards.
But some of Richards' neighbors in Harwood Courts don't like their view of his home.
"This is both offensive and a violation," says Lilly Tijerina, Harwood Courts Homeowner's Association president.
She is threatening Richards with fines if he doesn't remove the flags, even the one on the inside of his window.
"If he wants to put a flag in his house where he can see it, that's his right but outside where others can see it -- that's policy," says Tijerina.
Richards argues that the community around him tolerates Halloween decorations and college flags so it should also accept his display.
"It's a very cool looking flag and it just happens to be a part of our history," says Richards.
The H.O.A. policy allows only U.S. or Texas flags along with military flags in this neighborhood.
If Richards doesn't remove his, he could soon face fines of $50 to $100 dollars a day.