The Willow Creek Commons HOA of Franklin, Tennessee mailed a cease and desist letter to homeowner Yemi Adeyemi, 38, regarding a decorative wreath on her front door that the board described in writing as “ethnically suggestive in a manner inconsistent with the community’s aesthetic guidelines.” The wreath is green and gold. It has small wooden beads on it. Yemi’s mother made it.
Adeyemi’s neighbors on both sides — the Garcias and the Nguyens — have submitted letters of support and also noted that their own holiday wreaths have never received letters. The HOA board president, a man named Cliff, said the issue is “purely aesthetic.” Cliff’s front door has a wooden cutout of a rooster on it. The rooster has not received a letter. The rooster is fine.