Black condo board members, the housing discrimination continues
Be prepared for ‘we don’t work there’ emails and anonymous rants
When I logged into Yelp and saw a new message from a roofer who I chose not to re-hire, all I could do was shake my head. Almost a year later and never giving this man a second thought, I see the following message:
This contractor would not stop texting me on a Saturday night on the Fourth of July. (Yes, I celebrate Juneteenth instead of Independence Day, but that’s not the point.) I asked him repeatedly to stop, only for him to keep going, damn near begging me to do the job. Our condo board ended up working with someone else. Judging from this “Black Lives Matter” rant (although I’d never mentioned BLM in a conversation with him and only confirmed it via face mask), I’m pretty relieved I gave a firm “no” on a second round of work.
If this message above seems surprising to you, don’t let it. This is a sadly common thing that may happen with a “certain” group of contractors and black homeowners. Whether you’re a condo board member (I was the president last year and treasurer now), a homeowner or landlord, it’s pretty easy to catch on to the “tone” of some contractor conversations. In this particular contractor’s case, I had a hunch but wasn’t quite sure. At the time, my focus was on handling business though.
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As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I choose to continue promoting intriguing products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. All five of my Substack publications now include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site, not just the Amazon Black-owned logo, to verify this.) If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
While talking about roof repairs and inspections, I raised an eyebrow at some of his pricing and suggested upgrades. Initially I just thought he was sketchy, primarily due to seeing his cell phone number connected to multiple “roof repair companies” (on Yelp, the Better Business Bureau and Google) but a Zelle account under a completely different name and email address. I tried to shrug it off at first, but the fact-checking editor in me wouldn’t let it go. At least six “companies” later, I knew I was talking to a scammer. But I was more insulted that he seemed to think I knew nothing about home improvement or property management. Double disrespect.