Apartment notice reminds 'African American residents' to lower 'conversation volume'

IRVINE, Calif., May 29 (UPI) -- A California student shared pictures of a flyer posted by apartment management reminding "African American residents" to "keep conversation volume down."

Instagram user teyent_thequeenb posted photos and a video to her account showing signs in her building's two elevators at Toscana Apartment Homes that purport to have been posted by management.

The signs say managers have received "multiple complaints" about noise levels after 10 p.m.

"We also would like to remind our African-American residents to keep conversation volume down and reduce music levels between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.," the signs read.

The resident said she checked other buildings in the complex and found hers was the only one with the signs posted in the elevators.

"Call me crazy but it's only about 8 people or less I've seen that are black in my building so what's really the issue?" she wrote.

"This is what it means to be black in Irvine," she says in the video. "Generalizations."

A friend viewing the notice with the Instagram user can be heard saying: "Blatant racism, with no regard to our personal feelings."

The official Instagram account for the nearby University of California-Irvine commented on one of the photos.

"Toscana Apartments are not affiliated with UC Irvine and we do not condone the message in this flyer. The University is also addressing this issue with the apartment management and the City of Irvine," the comment reads.

Some online commenters suggested the sign could be in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

Equity Residential, the company named at the bottom of the notice, said it was not involved in the creation of the flyer.

"Equity Residential definitely did not create this flyer. We're outraged by its content and are investigating the source," the company said in an Instagram comment.

"@equityres is obviously claiming no responsibility and blaming it on other tenants. One of the office managers we spoke to this morning says she understands because HER HUSBAND IS BLACK! Lord help us," teyent_thequeenb wrote in a post responding to the comment.