A viral video centering on a verbal exchange between a security guard and a Black Texas mom is circulating right now and is garnering much attention online. Specifically, the altercation takes place at a children’s park in a gated community where the mom lives. The issue is, when her kids go to play at the park, the mom and the children are consistently asked for ID and told to leave. This doesn’t sit well with the mother who took to TikTok to share her experience.
The clip is taken from the perspective of the Texas mom, who is recording her children playing at said community park, and accompanying the footage is the caption, “Everytime My Kids Go To The Park In My Community Their Asked For ID & Told To Leave“. In the background, you can see the mom’s three children swinging on the swings, before a security guard enters the park area from behind some large plastic slides and strikes up a conversation with the woman.
“Hello. Please tell me my kids can’t play at this park.” fires the mom. Calmly, the security guard replies, “No, that’s not what I’m gonna tell you. They got to be supervised by — ’cause that’s how the HOA’s rules are written — by an adult who lives here and on their ID it has to show that.” For the unaware, the HOA means the Homeowners Association, which is typically a non-profit organization that helps manage and maintain its areas, while enforcing rules for residents.
“Okay, my address doesn’t show that I live here, but you know I live here because you’ve been to my house several times.” explains the mom. “I get what you’re saying,” says the security guard. Interjecting, the mom states, “So, are we gonna be arrested for playing at this park?“
“No, but you can get trespassed and probably a fine by your HOA.” exclaims the guard. “Well, then. We’re gonna have to take that fine.” responds the mom, curtly. “Because I pay too much rent for them to tell me that my kids can’t play at this park. I know little white kids are not getting asked for their ID, so whatever they got to do, they got to do it, ’cause I’m gonna tell my kids, from now on, go play at the park and if somebody tells you to leave, ignore them.”
“That’s fine. If you rack up a fine, they’ll have to send it on to your–” explains the guard, though the last word he says is difficult to make out. “Okay, that’s fine. Alright.” replies the mom. “So, the HOA president will probably be here.” expresses the security employee, before the mom turns to her children and exclaims, “You guys play at the park until you feel like coming home.”
With the footage continuing to snowball online, social media users flooded the comment section to air their two cents on the matter. Over on Reddit, one commenter weighed in with, “Kids minding their own business on the swings and idiots lose their minds.” while another added, “I want to shake a feral cat and throw it at these people but that would be unfair to the cat. You gonna tell a kid they can’t play? Curtain twitchers too afraid to interact with people.” Another user on TikTok wrote, “Fair Housing Discrimination Act violation. 1. Your lease gives you the property owners rights. 2. Instead of ID, present a screen shot of your lease. 3. If they continue, email the HOA & landlord that they are violating the Fair Housing Discrimination Act by rejecting your reasonable ID (the lease) and denying you the ‘quiet enjoyment of the community’.”
While the majority of reactions sided with the mother, a few netizens agreed that rules are rules. For instance, one Redditor, penned, “It’s bullsh*t, but that’s what you sign up for when you choose to live in an HoA community with those rules.” Furthermore, another commenter chipped in with, “He specifically says they can play there but surprised [Supervised] and by an adult with and ID proving they live in that community. She obviously states she rents there but her ID doesn’t match and clearly he knows whom she is but he re states that the HOA have them rules and she doesn’t care about those fine cause they are going to the owner who will eventually do an eviction as the HOA will take their home away if those fines are not paid or if rules continue to be broken. HOA shouldn’t exists in my opinion” [Sic].
While at first it seems like an open and shut case, the real issue seems to stem from the mom’s insistence on allowing her children to play unsupervised, which is what the HOA and the security guard is seemingly attempting to enforce with their rules. Even though I do empathise with the Texas mom on this one, I do also understand that children’s safety is paramount, so maybe if she would supervise her children while they’re playing at the park, maybe everyone would be happy, right?
