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Is the shared economy racist?

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Re: Is the shared economy racist?

#61

Post by jiggy2011 »

rayiner wrote: post #28
jsonne wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The elimination of overt racial discrimination in private businesses is actually a wonderful example of concerted government action addressing a problem that according to free market theories shouldn't even have existed in the first place." Just to clarify Milton Friedman (A champion of free market economics) readily acknowledges racism. His argument is more along the lines of "in the long term racist businesses wil…

I like Friedman, but this is one of his more hand-wavey arguments. It ignores the fact that discrimination might be a positive marketing characteristic for a business. If the customers are themselves racist, a business might lose a lot more revenue by serving minority customers than it gains from those customers. Indeed, even if all the business owners are not racist, as long as most of the customers are, they face a…

Do you think that many Americans (outside of the hardcore) are racist enough to literally boycott a business that doesn't refuse to do business with blacks?

Re: Is the shared economy racist?

#62

Post by greendata »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #34
greendata wrote: post #25

This is so depressing and even though sample size is small it rings 100% true. I think it's just a symptom of an inherently racist and unfair world and is not Uber or Airbnb's fault. The same thing happens with names at the resume level and on and on. That said I think there's a new market here. If the average Airbnb listing is rejecting applicants of color maybe there could be a special "diversity friendly" designat…

The question is, how do you enforce this? What is to stop a host from displaying the "diverse friendly" flare for promotion purposes and then just rejecting minorities anyway. The only method I can think of would be to monitor when hosts reject minority guests but then there's a risk that you punish hosts who reject a minority guest for some unrelated reason.

I don't think you'd have to monitor it any more than you would monitor a business that puts up the rainbow flag on their window.

I think the key here is to make it voluntary and not push it on people or make it a top-down standard. Its absence should not imply racism. Perhaps the flair could located on another site where users of the shared economy list themselves as "diversity friendly". If you see a listing with the diversity "flair" and one of the reviewers is a person of color, you know that place is worth applying to as a person of color.

Re: Is the shared economy racist?

#63

Post by brudgers »

These are businesses built to operate outside established regulations and inevitablely have features of grey and black markets. In some ways this is like complaining about racism among chop shops or the guy selling electronics that fell off the back of a truck. The lack of full accountability is what makes it possible to provide a deal.

Re: Is the shared economy racist?

#65

Post by interpares »

cwaniak wrote: post #58
interpares wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, because blacks are the ones responsible for how they're portrayed in the media.

Right, because if media portrayed Asians as living in slums, not working and dealing drugs, the public would just buy it in a second.

No not in a second, but certainly over time and with the help of confirmation bias. Absolutely.

Re: Is the shared economy racist?

#66

Post by theorique »

learc83 wrote: post #30

This isn't limited to white hosts either. My brother stayed with a black couple during an internship in DC last summer (he's white). They told him that after several bad experiences they no longer host black guests.

There's no racism like the racism of respectable, middle-class blacks against the "thug class" of lower-class blacks. Chris Rock had a routine about it which I will not repeat.

Re: Is the shared economy racist?

#67

Post by cup »

learc83 wrote: post #30

This isn't limited to white hosts either. My brother stayed with a black couple during an internship in DC last summer (he's white). They told him that after several bad experiences they no longer host black guests.

I'm not racist, I've got Black friends but. ...

Re: Is the shared economy racist?

#69

Post by jfc »

greendata wrote: post #45
joesmo wrote: post #12

I don't think any of this is specific to AirBnb or Uber. What is described here is just plain racism, something that's blatant all over America (some might say, it's what defines America), especially in regards towards black people. The black friend in the story knew this and wasn't surprised. It's only surprising to people who think this is something of the past, as if somehow people have improved and this shouldn't…

There is a huge issue with racism in the US but you're wrong to think it's a US problem or that it's worse in the US on average. Spend a few months in Europe, especially the east and south, and you'll quickly change your mind. Also, checkout Japan and China. Those places are in their own way at least as racist as the US is today. Racism is a universal human problem. Humans naturally divide things into different group…

>>Racism is a universal human problem.

Totally agree with this. Human beings often denigrate other people, based on relatively minor differences, with a view to elevating themselves. It is utterly childish, and yet people persist in doing it frequently.

Re: Is the shared economy racist?

#70

Post by jiggy2011 »

greendata wrote: post #62
jiggy2011 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is, how do you enforce this? What is to stop a host from displaying the "diverse friendly" flare for promotion purposes and then just rejecting minorities anyway. The only method I can think of would be to monitor when hosts reject minority guests but then there's a risk that you punish hosts who reject a minority guest for some unrelated reason.

I don't think you'd have to monitor it any more than you would monitor a business that puts up the rainbow flag on their window. I think the key here is to make it voluntary and not push it on people or make it a top-down standard. Its absence should not imply racism. Perhaps the flair could located on another site where users of the shared economy list themselves as "diversity friendly". If you see a listing with th…

That would depend on what it was interpreted to mean by users. I can easily see AirBnB hosts being under pressure to display the flair for fear of being assumed racist otherwise and being boycotted by even white people who don't want to endorse racism. It might also make it easier for a person who feels discriminated against to sue (if they don't display when others are).

After all , you don't tend to see "blacks welcome" signs displayed at hotels, because that is the assumed default.

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