I had received a pop up on the Airbnb app about agreeing to the new updated discriminatory policy. I had agreed to it but also called Airbnb to get a better understanding because I have many flags and decor as a Black woman that represents my culture and heritage. Black History, Juneteenth, international flags, BLM, MLK, etc. The rep said as long as I put it in my listing description for the guests to have a sense on what to expect when booking my room space. This is crazy. I also have sarcastic signs. Examples: Hippies to the side door, lost disabled dog, the crazy cat woman. Etc. I do not want to be silenced, washed and or misunderstood.
I wouldnât get my knickers in a knot about what some clueless Airbb rep said. They give out false information all the time. The anti-discrimination wording has nothing to do with celebrating your own heritage, itâs about displaying stuff that is hateful or associated with discriminatory ideologies.
While itâs ridiculous for an Airbnb rep to tell a host they need to mention in their listing that they are displaying a black pride or gay pride flag, etc., itâs not a bad idea to have those things evident in your listing photos. Some hosts have signs saying âAll are welcome here,â, etc. to ward off bigoted guests. I doubt you want to host racists.
All these anti-discrimination policies draw some quite opposite reactions. For instance, after Airbnb decided to hide guest photos until after a booking was confirmed, to cut down on discrimination, I read posts from some guests saying things like, âIâm a gay black man- I want hosts to see the profile photo of me and my partner- Iâd rather be declined than unknowingly put money in the pocket of racists and homophobes, or arrive and get bad vibesâ.
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Thanks for your response. I am not sure if you are an American or international host? But here in Amerikkka some are against Black culture pride. As a Black woman who hosts, I would like to celebrate my Blackness without any interruptions. I have plenty of pictures listed of my decor. However some guests will complain about feeling uncomfortable in a Black womanâs house which may led to a discrimination complaint.
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If you have plenty of photos of your decor and people book and then complain, it seems no different than them booking a place that makes it clear there isnât any kitchen use, then complain there wasnât a kitchen to use.
But I totally understand the concern about some guest claiming discrimination and Airbnb suspending the host. And it goes both ways. Iâve read of white hosts getting suspended after having black guests claim they got booted out because of discrimination, when in fact they got booted out because they invited 50 people over and had a party. Or a bad guest claiming the white host was racist against blacks because they got called out for ignoring house rules, unaware that the host was married to a black man.
Iâm a homeshare host in Mexico. But I was born and raised in the US and became a Canadian citizen back in the 70s. I pay close attention to US politics and am well aware of the backlash to Black pride in the US.
But itâs a rather complex subject. I can certainly understand people from demographics that have long been discriminated against displaying symbols of their pride in their heritage, or sexual orientation. It doesnât mean they hate or discriminate against others . But if someone were to put up âWhite Prideâ symbols, that is automatically associated with racism, because those who bang on about âWhite Prideâ actually are racist.
What strange times we live in.
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I see that the Airbnb discrimination policy refers to âhate symbolsâ etc. and I imagine the OPâs decor to be the exact opposite?
I realise and I appreciate your point. However, as hosts, we are in business. If you follow @muddyâs advice about the photographs (excellent advice by the way) then you have to realise that there are some potential guests who will go elsewhere.
Thatâs not a race comment. I wouldnât go anywhere with wallpaper I dislike. 
I wouldnât book anywhere that had a picture of a wan, blond, blue eyed Jesus, which is without a doubt not what he looked like, hanging over the bed. Or no bedside reading lamp.
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I am a home share. Private bedroom with shared areas. I live in Upstate, NY. This decor represents my Black culture and Black pride.
Question- does your decor extend to the guest room?
If a guest books a homeshare, they have to expect that they will be subject to the hostâs lifestyle, etc. in shared spaces. If the host makes it clear that they have 3 cats, the guest should not be surprised or upset that there may be cat hair on the living room sofa. But I think they would not be out of line to expect that the furniture in the guest room would not be covered in cat hair.
If a homeshare host makes it clear that they have 2 small children who are sometimes noisy and run around the house, and there will be toys scattered about the shared living area, the guest cannot reasonably expect peace and quiet and an adult-only style living room. But they also can reasonably expect that their private room is not littered with toys and that the children wonât be running in and out of their bedroom or allowed to go in there when they arenât home and mess with their belongings.
If the host is religious, their living room bookcase might very well be filled with Bibles and Christian books. They may have religious symbols- paintings and knicknacks and crosses on the wall in their living room. But a paying guest could reasonably expect that their private bedroom will not also be filled with that stuff.
In other words, as a homeshare host myself, while guests have to accept the way the host lives and how the shared spaces look, I think the guestâs private room should be as neutral as possible, devoid of any symbolism, with decor that pretty much anyone would feel at home with.
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No Black culture/pride decor in the private bedrooms. Black culture/ pride decor is displayed outside my house, entry ways, and foyers. To some itâs just the idea myself as a Black woman to have the options to do such things without consequences. I reside in racist upstate NY.
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There were some hosts on another forum who had a place in upstate NY, not exactly sure where. They said they had some guests who expressed that it made them very uncomfortable to see all the Trump lawn signs in the area. All the hosts could do is empathize and say it certainly wasnât to their liking either, but not much they could do about it.
My dad grew up on a farm outside of Albany. His parents were Eastern European Jewish immigrants. My grandfather never really did learn to speak much English. They long ago passed away, but they probably wouldnât feel very comfortable there now.
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I may book and I am an Atheist. Lol
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Iâm so sorry we live in such a racist country that you have to worry about celebrating your culture and heritage. I think muddyâs advice about lots of pictures is right on, especially of any decor you think might bother someone. Clearly, honoring your black culture is not racist in any way. If you have pictures showing your black culture I would hope that any racists wouldnât book your place.
The hippie sign might offend someone who thinks they are a hippie, so I would probably remove the hippie sign and any joke signs that single out specific cultural groups like the hippie one. As someone who was a hippie during the 70âs l can tell you that hippie culture was all about acceptance and love. My friends and I worked for the civil rights movement and our commune had members of all races. Good luck. I hope you get only lovely guests who appreciate you.
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Us hippies were also a demographic that has been discriminated against. Gunned down at Kent State by the Ohio National Guard. 4 dead, nine wounded, young unarmed Vietnam protesters.
Lies and misconceptions about hippie culture abounded. âDirty hippiesâ was a common term. Yet I didnât know any hippies who didnât bathe, who werenât clean. That hippies all did drugs was another misconception, or that we all wore tie dye clothing and granny skirts.
It wasnât about any of those sorts of trappings or disinformation. It was a mind set that, as you say, was all about love and acceptance, peace, questioning the values that we grew up with and trying to make a better world.
âBack to the landâ was also a part of the culture- growing our own food, eating healthy, learning to build homes, taking care of ourselves and each other, sharing what we had with others.
Whenever I hear people say, âWhen I used to be a hippie, hahaâ, I think âIf you think itâs something to joke about like that, as if it were just some phase of youthful folly, you never were a hippie- just because you wore tie dye t-shirts and grew your hair long and smoked dope and maybe lived on a commune doesnât mean you really were a hippie.â
Because hippie was a mind-set. And one that the world could do well to get back to today. I still consider myself a hippie, and proud of it.
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As always, so well said, Muddy! Iâve learned a lot about you in these last few postings. Thank you for sharing!
I would like to read this entire policy and donât know where to find it. I donât remember getting an email from Airbnb with a new policy. Can you direct me to it? I am super sensitive to the fact that one of the people on the board is a member of DOGE but it does not sound as if this policy is an effort to inhibit. We do have a home share and we have a couple of signs at side of the bedroom they talk about respecting others, Black Lives Matter, love is love, Etc. And that will stay up in our house. During the election we had a Harris sign outside and nobody commented on it except positively. Anyway, please direct to the policy so I can read the whole thing.
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I found this in their help center. I think this may be it:
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This is not the updated. I had posted the update policy.
What you posted is exactly the same, word for word, as in the link posted above.
Itâs actually almost impossible to find past Airbnb policies that have been updated to different wording. They scrub the outdated stuff.