[arista]

[Airbnb says it is investigating after
a black woman claimed her booking
was rejected by a host in Spain - only for
her white friend's identical request
to be accepted later.
Ruth Ibegbuna, from Bradford,
hoped to book herself a flat
through Airbnb for a week in Spain,
and with her excellent guest reviews,
didn't envisage a problem from the
place she had her eye on.
But she says her request was declined,
only to then find her white friend
was able to make the same booking
without fuss.
She tweeted: "An Airbnb host in Spain
has declined my week-long booking
of her apartment despite all my excellent
reviews from previous hosts.
Asked a white friend to try for
same dates and it's suddenly available
after all....#EverydayRacism."]

https://twitter.com/MsIbegbuna

https://news.sky.com/story/airbnb-in...epted-11835804





Sign Of The Times

[Mitchell]

Waiting for the people to defend this...

[Ammi]

...if her booking was rejected because of race, then it’s indefensible ...it’s easy to see why she feels that’s the case because of her friend’s same booking being accepted...but there could be an explanation../..a reason that we’re just not seeing atm, which the investigation will reveal...


...so on the booking information, race is something people are questioned about...?...how odd, I didn’t think that was allowed to be asked...

[Ammi]

...I’ve just realised the thread title, Arista....why (typical Spain)...?...nothing about this story is ‘typical Spain’...you’re posting a thread of a story showing potential prejudice, while displaying prejudice yourself...?...Arista, no...

[bitontheslide]

Not sure how this gets a "typical spain" in the title from what is effectively 1 bnb in a huge country where tourism is their life blood

[Cherie]

unless you have to declare 'race' on your application how would the host know?

If they have done this its pretty abhorrent, but the story is a bit patchy for me for now

[AnnieK]

Originally Posted by Cherie

unless you have to declare 'race' on your application how would the host know?

If they have done this its pretty abhorrent, but the story is a bit patchy for me for now

I can't imagine you would have to declare race but her surname certainly sou ds of African descent so if the host was a racist an educated guess could have been made

If proven they should not be allowed to advertise their property on Air BnB anymore

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

unless you have to declare 'race' on your application how would the host know?



If they have done this its pretty abhorrent, but the story is a bit patchy for me for now

I have a profile picture on my air bnb account as its linked to my google account

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I have a profile picture on my air bnb account as its linked to my google account

aw right, in that case that is probably the reason then, they should be removed if this is proved to be the case

although I have just opened the link now and it says Air BnB has recently changed its policy and does not provide profile pics until a booking is confirmed, so it may be as Annie says on her name or it could have been a genuine error and someone else was interested but the booking fell through at the last minute or it could be out and out racism

[arista]

Originally Posted by Ammi

...I’ve just realised the thread title, Arista....why (typical Spain)...?...nothing about this story is ‘typical Spain’...you’re posting a thread of a story showing potential prejudice, while displaying prejudice yourself...?...Arista, no...

Typical Racism

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

aw right, in that case that is probably the reason then, they should be removed if this is proved to be the case

although I have just opened the link now and it says Air BnB has recently changed its policy and does not provide profile pics until a booking is confirmed, so it may be as Annie says on her name or it could have been a genuine error and someone else was interested but the booking fell through at the last minute or it could be out and out racism

I dont know, I know I could see the hosts profile pic before I booked last time I did but maybe its different for hosts or maybe the change is only very recent? I think last time I booked something in there was maybe a year ago

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I dont know, I know I could see the hosts profile pic before I booked last time I did but maybe its different for hosts or maybe the change is only very recent? I think last time I booked something in there was maybe a year ago

sorry I think they meant the host doesn't see the bookers profile until the booking is confirmed, it says its a recent change on the link

[thesheriff443]

There is racism in every part of the world, I do know from first had experience that sports stars are subjected to racism by some Spanish fans and supporters are racist to non Spanish fans who support their Spanish teams.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I dont know, I know I could see the hosts profile pic before I booked last time I did but maybe its different for hosts or maybe the change is only very recent? I think last time I booked something in there was maybe a year ago

I think it was changed specifically so that hosts can't reject people based on appearance. Be that race or, I imagine is often an issue in the UK, class / "not looking respectable enough for the area". Wouldn't want to upset the neighbours, of course.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I think it was changed specifically so that hosts can't reject people based on appearance. Be that race or, I imagine is often an issue in the UK, class / "not looking respectable enough for the area". Wouldn't want to upset the neighbours, of course.

Sad that they would have to do that but I do agree with Annie, the lady in the article's name does sound "African"

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Sad that they would have to do that but I do agree with Annie, the lady in the article's name does sound "African"

Yeah, I'd be fairly confident that it is a race issue. Pretty much impossible to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" though, sadly. Easy to make up an excuse, e.g. "thought a repair was needed but managed to fix it myself so became available again". There will likely be some similar excuse.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Yeah, I'd be fairly confident that it is a race issue. Pretty much impossible to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" though, sadly. Easy to make up an excuse, e.g. "thought a repair was needed but managed to fix it myself so became available again". There will likely be some similar excuse.

yeah, very hard to prove unfortunately