A tenant says that after he hung Lunar New Year decorations on his apartment door, his building management told him to take down the stickers for “aesthetic reasons.” His response was, “What about all the Christmas wreaths?”
In a TikTok posted on Friday, Dieric (@thearchivalform) says that he got a call that day from his apartment complex telling him he had to take down the stickers he’d hung on his front door.
Dieric, who describes himself as Taiwanese in his TikTok bio, says he told management that the stickers were for Lunar New Year, which took place on Sunday. He says management told him that the decorations weren’t “aesthetic” and didn’t match the rest of the building.
“What about all the Christmas wreaths that were hanging up on our front doors?” Dieric says in his video. “Or people’s Valentine’s day decorations hanging up on their front doors?”
Dieric says that “there’s no reason” his decorations, which are traditionally hung on one’s front door, are “not the right aesthetic.” The TikToker says he plans to break his lease at the building for a host of reasons—including the debacle about his decorations—so he’ll be hanging even more decorations on his door until he moves out.
“I’m hanging some fucking lanterns outside,” Dieric says. “Because who are you to tell me that my traditional decorations are not the right aesthetic?”
In his caption for the video, Dieric mentions sinophobia, or anti-Chinese racism, and used the hashtag #StopAsianHate. On Monday, his video had almost 200,000 views.
@thearchivalform I was originally gonna post this friends only but I changed my mind its gonna be public :) #asianamerican #taiwanese #taiwaneseamerican #racism #sinophobia #stopasianhate #asian ♬ original sound – Dieric
In a follow-up video, Dieric shows the door and decorations before management contacted him and after—when he put up more decorations. Before, there were four red and gold squares hung in a diamond formation on the door. After Dieric’s redecoration, the door had three rectangular red and gold decorations, plus two of the original squares.
Dieric says that if he receives another call from his building about the decorations, he plans to ask for a written explanation of why the decorations must be removed. In his initial video, he also mentioned possibly speaking with a lawyer if the issue continues.
“I’m not backing down,” Dieric says in his follow-up video. The TikToker did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
Many commenters on Dieric’s video sided with him, saying that everyone should be able to hang decorations representing and expressing their culture. Others suggested he file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Planning for discrimination.
