NYT 12/13/22 Article on Airbnb Discrimination Against Blacks: Black Travelers Say Home-Share Hosts Discriminate, and a New Airbnb Report Agrees

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I have to say that I don’t agree with the removal of profile pics as an effective way to discourage racism. It seems like it would be much easier to weed out the bigots if Airbnb could see that a host consistently declined bookings from POC, Muslims, gays, etc.

And I know that many minority guests have said they want hosts to see their profile pic when they request to book- they don’t want prejudiced hosts tricked into accepting, only to get a bad vibe from the host when they arrive, and they really don’t want to put money in a prejudiced host’s pocket.

What’s the point in forcing a homophobic host to accept a booking by hiding the photo of the guest and his same sex partner, knowing the host will be loathe to cancel due to the penalties imposed, if the guest then arrives to suffer a distinctly homophobic vibe from the host? Guests don’t simply want to have their bookings accepted, they also want to have a pleasant stay.

It might be more effective and valuable for Airbnb to bring back the visible profile photo, and to ask users to indicate in the profile info Airbnb has (but that hosts aren’t privy to), if the user identifies as LGBTQ, are POC, of a visible minority, etc. Those accounts could have some algorithm attached to them that tracks the hosts who decline them and an explanation to users as to why this info is being requested.

It could be totally voluntary, guests given a choice. "We are trying to track and eliminate prejudiced behavior regarding hosts’ acceptance of bookings. To this end, please choose one of the options below:

A. I wish to participate in this anti-discrimination tracking.
I identify as:
LGBTQ
POC
Visibly of a certain religion (for
example, you wear a hijab or turban)
Visibly disabled
Other (please specify)

I understand and agree to my profile photo being visible to hosts when I send an Inquiry or Booking Request. I agree to post a clear photo of myself.

B. I do not wish to participate in this
tracking. Please continue to hide my
profile photo from hosts until
bookings are confirmed.

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I will be in trouble then!
I have declined three RTB Indian families in a row - not because of race, but because they were insisting on bringing multiple children under 5 years old that couldn’t swim at my 12 years and over listing!

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Well, I’m certainly not suggesting that hosts be automatically removed simply because an algorithm detects they declined bookings from certain demographics. Other factors would have to be examined after the algorithm identified a pattern.

It would be ridiculous, for instance, to penalize or delist a black African host in Africa for declining bookings from black Africans, when those may constitute the vast majority of their bookings overall. Or in your case, when the declines were based upon guests not reading the listing info or indicating that they want to break your rules or max guest counts, as evidenced by the message stream.

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On b.con, if they put the correct ages in of the children in the search parameters, you don’t even see the listing.
Airbnb set the guest up for a decline because they are showing properties where the host has clearly stated that these are my requirements.
Any way to get a booking and their cut!

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25

So true. I had an African student come to me to complain about other students calling her names like zebra because she was African. The girl was in tears. I assumed the students were white but they were actually African Americans being racists against an African girl. So you’re right, minorities turning against other minorities.

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There are so many ways people get discriminated against that don’t have anything to do with race, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation, disabilities, the things we usually associate with bigotry. Hippies used to get discriminated against (the term “dirty hippie” was prevalent, although being an old hippie myself, all the hippies I knew bathed just as often as other people do), people with tattoos get discriminated against in places where it’s not common to see that. White Americans with heavy Southern accents get perceived as ignorant hillbillies or presumed to be racist. Humans seem biologically programmed to be distrustful of or bigotted towards someone they perceive as “other”.

I think that to really try to eliminate discrimination, we have to first acknowledge that it derives from our natural biological make-up. From the time of early man, other tribes of people were in fact a legitimate threat- they wanted to kill you, steal your food, steal your women. It takes recognition of what may be in our DNA as a legitimate defense mechanism, to rise above it and consciously understand we don’t need to be like that anymore, IMO.

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just further goes to show this article is not based in any real facts, just he-said she-said stuff.

I’ve never heard of a guest getting a 90-day suspension, is that a thing?

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They do that with all the filters. Apparently if a guest filters for “pool”, or some other amenity, and there are only a few suitable listings, the first few listings they are shown have pools, and the rest don’t. The guest assumes they all have pools unless they read through the listing info. It’s ridiculous and just as bad for guests as it is for hosts.

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29

I have a home share listing and I have gotten several requests for parties. “Can I book your place for Saturday day only? It’s my girlfriend’s 21st birthday;” “We’d like to throw our parents a pool party for their anniversary and your place looks perfect. It’s only during the day, so you can still rent for that night.” True stories. And the tip of the iceberg for party requests at my home.

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Man, if they invite me to their party, it would be tempting.

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I’ve always kind of thought that it would help people be less bigoted if they had to take a DNA test and see all of the different blood and ancestry they have.

For instance, I used to kind of use the term “what a neanderthal” to imply someone was dumb or animalistic. I never thought much about it. Then I had my DNA done and it told me that I have “more neanderthal DNA than 91% of the population”. So now when I see a big protruding forehead, I’m like, “hey cuz! Grrrr!”

(true story) :grin:

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Ha. My neighbors had a loud gathering one night- it wasn’t a full-blown party, just the guy who is the live-in caretaker for a vacation rental, the homeowners who were in town staying there and the couple who had come with them. But the music was cranked, they all like to drink and were really loud. The caretaker and owners were friends of mine, and the next day I said, “You know, where I come from, if you’re gonna have a loud party, it’s considered proper etiquette to at least invite the neighbors”.

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I wish someone would write a book that followed up on people who do things like this or like the woman who called the police and lied that a black man was threatening her in Central Park or the idiots who go online and threaten to kill a politician or hometown cops or small business owners who brought a pistol to Jan 6, and just do a few pages of reporting on each of them describing how their lives unravelled as a result of their foolishness and cruelty and poor judgement. They all start off as sanctimonious, and then… the long fall.

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I read that the woman who called the cops saying the guy in the park had threatened her, when he just asked her to leash her dog, got fired from her job. So have lots of others who have posted racist and discriminatory stuff on social media. It says a lot about their mind set that it never occurs to them that people are going to report them or that there will be any repercussions.

And it always amazes me when people get nailed for using racial slurs, then claim they aren’t racist, they just misspoke because they were upset. I don’t know about you, but the n-word isn’t part of my vocabulary. It would never come out of my mouth no matter how upset or drunk I was.

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Yes. Fired from her really lucrative Wall Street job – and then what happens? You lose your apartment. Your friends are embarrassed they even know you. Your credit cards are cancelled… A downward spiral.

The book would be called
…and
Found
Out
Subtitle:
The self-inflicted consequences of FA in America

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And then what happens is the well connected person has friends with connections who gets them comparable work elsewhere once the publicity dies down. @Spark

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Even if life doesn’t go completely to shit, it’s often diminished… but this would be worth a separate look in the same book.

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You’re welcome any time and I’d throw a party for you just because! :smiley_cat:

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I had my DNA tested and I’m an interesting mix! I’m European (Spain), Northern African, Asian, and Native American. I bet that Northern African DNA is Egyptian, that would explain my love of cats! Most likely it’s from the Moors but I like to think it’s Egyptian because they adored cats. I must check my neanderthal DNA : )

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I like the Egyptian and cats connection! My ancient DNA traces back to Tunisia and I wondered if it explains my lifelong obsession with Tunisia. I’ve even thought of moving there. Still might.

If you did it on 23andMe, they show your neanderthal percentage down by the haplop (?) groups.

I gained a sister a couple of years ago! She was the one who sent me the test to take. She had been researching for several years and all roads ended up leading to me. And she was right.

I have mostly Swedish, Norwegian, Welsh and Native American which was expected. Then also a significant amount of Portuguese and Spanish which was a big surprise (not as big as the sister though). Then there’s a 1.5% “undetermined” which may or may not be Space Alien, lol. But since there’s a big branch of Hawaiians in my tree I suppose it’s Polynesian or something. I’m definitely more exotic than I look :unamused:

Did you already have some idea of what to expect or was a lot of it surprising?

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