Business Tech
After Black customers shared their poor experiences with temporary lodging website Airbnb with the hashtag #AirbnbWhileBlack, one woman has come forward to share some demeaning messages a white host told her friend.
Shani Taylor named the person in question in a now-deleted tweet.
“This was only one of several really awful remarks made by the host, Todd Warner,” she wrote May 31.
Taylor followed that up with a screenshot of the exchange with Warner. It shows he initially accepted the reservation.
My friend and classmate here at Kellogg had a hateful and racist encounter with an @Airbnb host. pic.twitter.com/rFHlwqy5sQ
— Shani C. Taylor (@shanictaylor) May 31, 2016
“I hate n—— so I’m gonna cancel you,” he began. Ten minutes later he follows up the message with more cruelty.
“This is the south, darling. Find another place to rest your n—– head.”
The Kellogg School student’s friend was looking to stay in North Carolina, according to The Root. Taylor tagged Airbnb in the tweet hoping for a response.
After receiving tweets of support and shared disgust from others, she got the following reply.
Hi Shani, Airbnb does not condone discrimination in any way. We take this seriously. We have 1/3
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
located the reservation and have emailed the account holder. Kindly see our 2/3
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
Taylor thanked the company for their answer but was not told whether Warner’s account had been removed. However, the Airbnb help account assured her the issue was not tolerated.
We have followed up here but cannot share the outcome for privacy reasons. We take this issue seriously 1/2
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
and do not tolerate discrimination on Airbnb 2/2
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
The story comes after the company was faced with a class-action lawsuit last month calling them out for racism. Atlanta Black Star reports Airbnb denied allegations at the time, including ones like those shared in the Twitter campaign earlier in May. Many users said they only found success with lodging when they changed their profile pictures and names to hide their race.
In response to the suit, the company stated their anti-discrimination is against “content that promotes discrimination, bigotry, racism, hatred, harassment or harm against any individual or group, and we require all users to comply with local laws and regulations.”
