Post by High Priestess on Sept 16, 2016 15:38:19 GMT
A woman felt discriminated against on Airbnb, but says Airbnb can't solve a social problem....
fortune.com/2016/09/15/airbnb-racism-black/
Malika tried to book a place in Portland, OR ...she tried 8 or 10 times and was declined each time. Her white male friend John was accepted at the first place he asked to stay. She was very soured on AIrbnb and ended up resenting her friend both for using the service and having no trouble with using it.
Her friend said this: "I asked Malika about these changes (that Airbnb intends to make in their nondiscrimination policy) as she prepares to jet back to Seattle after a short trip on the East Coast. She laughed when I listed some of the promises Airbnb made. Malika said the following: “Airbnb saying ‘Don’t show that you are black and book quicker so they don’t know you are black’ is not changing the fact that people don’t want me in their house because I am black.'”
Malika looks so sweet in this photo -- I can't see why anyone wouldn't want her as a guest. She looks radiant and warmhearted. I also think that her experience of getting declined so many times sounds very frustrating. And yet, I've heard from many white hosts who actually have the exact same experience -- they experience serial declines. One white host said she was declined 7 times before finding a place. Another said he was declined 3 times. I have a feeling many hosts are just very very picky about who they accept.
Also, many black guests dont' have Malika's experience, but rather have an experience like her white male friend John and are accepted at the first place they ask to stay. So why are some black individuals successful using Airbnb and have no problems, dont' get declined, and others have trouble, get declined many times, and say they aren't wanted because they are black? If there is anything that Airbnb is doing about this issue that is valuable, I think it may be in doing research/studies and uncovering some information and facts which can help explain how it can be that some black guests have no problem at all when using Airbnb, and others seem to have this problem of "I can't get an Airbnb for the life of me" -- which doesn't correspond at all to studies on the amount of alleged racism in Airbnb.
And beyond this...doesn't Malika also have a point, that having guests hide who they are, or tricking hosts by booking quickly, may only result -- at best, in a situation like Malika's -- in hosts having guests in their homes who they don't really want there?
fortune.com/2016/09/15/airbnb-racism-black/
Malika tried to book a place in Portland, OR ...she tried 8 or 10 times and was declined each time. Her white male friend John was accepted at the first place he asked to stay. She was very soured on AIrbnb and ended up resenting her friend both for using the service and having no trouble with using it.
Her friend said this: "I asked Malika about these changes (that Airbnb intends to make in their nondiscrimination policy) as she prepares to jet back to Seattle after a short trip on the East Coast. She laughed when I listed some of the promises Airbnb made. Malika said the following: “Airbnb saying ‘Don’t show that you are black and book quicker so they don’t know you are black’ is not changing the fact that people don’t want me in their house because I am black.'”
Malika looks so sweet in this photo -- I can't see why anyone wouldn't want her as a guest. She looks radiant and warmhearted. I also think that her experience of getting declined so many times sounds very frustrating. And yet, I've heard from many white hosts who actually have the exact same experience -- they experience serial declines. One white host said she was declined 7 times before finding a place. Another said he was declined 3 times. I have a feeling many hosts are just very very picky about who they accept.
Also, many black guests dont' have Malika's experience, but rather have an experience like her white male friend John and are accepted at the first place they ask to stay. So why are some black individuals successful using Airbnb and have no problems, dont' get declined, and others have trouble, get declined many times, and say they aren't wanted because they are black? If there is anything that Airbnb is doing about this issue that is valuable, I think it may be in doing research/studies and uncovering some information and facts which can help explain how it can be that some black guests have no problem at all when using Airbnb, and others seem to have this problem of "I can't get an Airbnb for the life of me" -- which doesn't correspond at all to studies on the amount of alleged racism in Airbnb.
And beyond this...doesn't Malika also have a point, that having guests hide who they are, or tricking hosts by booking quickly, may only result -- at best, in a situation like Malika's -- in hosts having guests in their homes who they don't really want there?