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Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

latimes.com

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Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#131
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Suh was a spoiled entitled brat who exploited this situation I really don't see how you conclude that. Barker approve the deal then reneged with racist language. What makes Suh entitled or spoiled? If Barker didn't like the deal she had plenty of time to cancel or just say no upfront.

No. Suh kept changing the terms of the deal. > If Barker didn't like the deal she had plenty of time to cancel or just say no upfront. She did cancel it. After Suh kept changing the terms. The deal was for 2 people. Then Suh added a few more people. Then added a few more dogs. Sure, the racist language wasn't called for but Suh was in the wrong.

Suh changed the deal and got confirmation that Barker accepted the changes. Suh asked, Barker said yes for an extra $50 and then Barker exploded on her when she got here. Barker is in no way the victim here. Sure maybe Suh was a high maintenance renter, but she didn't do anything wrong.

This is the third time I'm posting this excerpt:

"When Suh later asked if it was OK to bring two friends and two dogs along, Barker said it was fine but the group would need to pay an additional $50 a night, according to screenshots of their text messages." https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/13/airbnb-ca...

Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All well and good, none of which is relevant to the story. What is relevant is that the host documented that she doesn’t want to rent to Asians. That’s why the host ended up paying $5K, not because the guest was a pain in the ass. Yes, if she’d just said, “you’re a pain in the ass, I’m not renting to you”, all would be well. But some people just can’t help themselves, I guess (I’m picturing the host as some letters-t…

Does making racist comments you don't believe make you a racist? Does giving compliments you don't believe make you a nice person? I seriously don't know. I want to say yes, but maybe not? I was thinking about this in another context today. When people piss you off, many people (including myself) want to say things to them that will illicit a negative reaction. Often, offensive words seem like a good choice to accomp…

> Does making racist comments you don't believe make you a racist?

I'm under the impression that part of you actually does believe it if you say it. I don't see the mind as one homogeneous thing that requires all thoughts be polarized in the same direction.

Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious what the circumstances are. The Barker case was open and shut - not only was it racially motivated but the defendant literally sent a text message incriminating herself. If your host sent you a text message after canceling saying "I hate men, that's why I'm canceling you" I bet you'd find a lawyer who could take the case.

Circumstances differ, but they clearly state it was because of gender. It was a declined request, not a cancellation, and there no political overtone to the statement. Not sure about other details like the occupancy, or use by the landlord. But they said they didn't want a male, and that was all.

[deleted]

Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree they're scum, do you want to sleep in a home occupied by someone who has overwhelming hate for your race? Would you want to eat a wedding cake someone was legally forced to bake for you?

The point of all discrimination laws is that sometimes you don't have a choice. If there was only one racist guy in America, discrimination wouldn't be illegal. Historically, it was nearly impossible for many people to find a hotel room owned by someone without overwhelming hate for their race, which is why we have laws against acting on those beliefs. While the situation has improved, there's still enough widespread…

Try that today. Businesses stay alive on margins.

Sure, 50 years ago if you were a white business owner and you took a black guys money, you might be ostracized by your community.

Racism in an economic sense today only hurts the racist. Do you think banks are going to turn down the profit of a black mortgage if it is profitable? Do you think this lady on the mountain is just going to turn down money because the renter is Asian?

I'm just saying it's not the norm. Do people have stereotypes about cultures? Of course. Would someone rather have someone of the same ethnic or cultural background stay in their house? Probably, and I don't think thats entirely unreasonable. But it's not a acceptable in our society and I think that's a good thing. In order to bridge the gap there are certain conditions, protocols and expectations that are followed.

In this case there are two people of different cultures (and culture may not have had anything to do with it, all cultures have ass's), one is bending over backwards for the other, who seems to have very little respect for the rules that are in place to bridge the divide between people and create a fair, equitable and nondiscriminutory enviroment.

Rules are in place to set a standard that otherwise might not exist across cultures.

Break the rules, then complain that you have been stereotyped by acting out the exact stereotype? Seems a touch hypocritical.

Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#135

I wonder if this whole thing really happened or was completely made up. If you check out her FB profile, you can see that she is supporting many violent terrorist/anarchist movements such as anti-capitalism, BLM etc. Not saying it could not have happened, but what a funny coincidence...

> I wonder if this whole thing really happened or was completely made up.

Well, reading TFA, given that there seems to be evidence and a legal ruling involved, chances are likely that this incident wasn't "completely made up." But obviously you didn't create a green account simply to cast aspersions on Dyn Suh's character, and you must have read the article first, so clearly you know that "the whole thing really happened." Unless you're accusing the LA Times, the California government, Tami Barker and her attorney of all collaborating to manufacture this story, but that would be absurd.

I also don't see evidence of support for "many violent terrorist/anarchist movements" on her FB account, although she does have a BLM sticker on her mortarboard in her banner. Of course, that alone isn't evidence of support for violence or terrorism, so I have to assume you know her personally and have supporting evidence of Mrs. Suh's radical sympathies, and have chosen to post anonymously out of fear for your personal safety, which is brave of you.

However, I don't understand what "coincidence" you could be referring to, or why you find it "funny." Perhaps you could elaborate?

Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#136
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Suh kept changing the terms of the deal. > If Barker didn't like the deal she had plenty of time to cancel or just say no upfront. She did cancel it. After Suh kept changing the terms. The deal was for 2 people. Then Suh added a few more people. Then added a few more dogs. Sure, the racist language wasn't called for but Suh was in the wrong.

Suh changed the deal and got confirmation that Barker accepted the changes. Suh asked, Barker said yes for an extra $50 and then Barker exploded on her when she got here. Barker is in no way the victim here. Sure maybe Suh was a high maintenance renter, but she didn't do anything wrong. This is the third time I'm posting this excerpt: "When Suh later asked if it was OK to bring two friends and two dogs along, Barker…

  according to screenshots of their text messages
Which the Guardian does not show at all, and no source that I can find has published a complete, unedited account of the text exchange.

Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of all discrimination laws is that sometimes you don't have a choice. If there was only one racist guy in America, discrimination wouldn't be illegal. Historically, it was nearly impossible for many people to find a hotel room owned by someone without overwhelming hate for their race, which is why we have laws against acting on those beliefs. While the situation has improved, there's still enough widespread…

Try that today. Businesses stay alive on margins. Sure, 50 years ago if you were a white business owner and you took a black guys money, you might be ostracized by your community. Racism in an economic sense today only hurts the racist. Do you think banks are going to turn down the profit of a black mortgage if it is profitable? Do you think this lady on the mountain is just going to turn down money because the rente…

> Do you think banks are going to turn down the profit of a black mortgage if it is profitable?

I'm sure you've heard of redlining, and yes it does still happen: https://archives.hud.gov/news/2015/pr15-064b.cfm

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/11/business/dealbook/evans-b...

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-and-consum...

Those are just a few examples that happen to be linked on Wikipedia.

> Do you think this lady on the mountain is just going to turn down money because the renter is Asian?

Yes, because that's what she said. I do my best to take people at their word unless there's a good reason not to.

> I'm just saying it's not the norm.

We could argue about what "norm" means, but at the very least, it's common. It's not just isolated incidents of crazy people doing crazy things.

I'm sorry but I didn't really follow the rest of your comment. As far as I can tell there's no culture clash or unwritten rules at issue in this story.

Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#139

Stupid of the host to act like that and inexcusable, got what she deserved etc, but.... This is one sided reporting. First of all Barker accepted the booking knowing who the guest would be, from her name, profile etc. Then there were frequent polite comms where the booking was changed, renegotiated. Two extra guests were added. Then the guest asked to bring a small dog, and the host said no because they have a pitbul…

Out of curiosity, where did you get the transcripts that give you this information? Further down the thread, someone points to [1], but even that is incomplete (the final exchange is missing one side of the conversation; there's a Washington Post article that seems to have more there [2]. > Messages on the day of arrival have been withheld by the guest, but relationship broke down and became hostile, with the guest d…

Your first source is to a wiki site (albeit a large one with a known good reputation), but still a wiki site (it says at the top of that very page anyone can add any information to it). And your second source is the Washington Post so I don't know how unbiased either of these links truly are.

Re: Airbnb host must pay $5,000 for canceling reservation based on race

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Message transcript and full story here: https://www.everipedia.com/tami-barker-airbnb-host/ I agree with OP. The woman was stupid enough to use racist remarks but the reasons she cancelled the reservation was definitely not racist.

That link says the host agreed to the extra people etc., leaving only racism and forgetfulness as reasons for welching on the agreement.

The link cited is to a wiki site, meaning anybody can add information to it. Although specifically that site, Everipedia.com, has a pretty good reputation for being unbiased similar to Wikipedia, I'm just trying to point out that it's still a wiki site. Anyone, including you or me, could edit that page and for sensitive topics such as racism, we should probably take things coming from places like Everipedia, Wikipedia etc with a grain of salt.
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