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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

#91

> In the video, Suh shows screen shots of the exchange, including a message from Barker saying, “It’s is why we have Trump” and, “I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.” Conservatively considering 45% to 48% of the registered Voters voted for Trump, what %age of those voters think like this? => “I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.” Alarming.

Percentage of voting age population that even voted at all was lower than that, and percentage of registered voters was not much higher. Be wary of thinking "48% of America" => "I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners". It's not that different than thinking any Democrat will go off on you for assuming their gender. What I find more alarming is the percentage of people who really feel like th…

But when you have president that is a rallying point for racism and actively says a major existential threat to humanity is "a chinese hoax", it is hard not to view that person as a threat and enemy.

He has demonstrated a stunning immunity to logic and willingness to harm American interests. He ignores open dialog. He and his who can't be talked to (which are most I have talked to) are the enemy. They represent and embrace ignorance and want a kind of backwards thinking and social order that only makes sense in the myopic view. They are anti-science while using tools made by and for science to communicate and often see no hypocrisy in any of this. They are the reason we have terms like "post-truth".

They often can't be reasoned with. They often seem will to deploy violence. They are doing real harm. How are they not the enemy?

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

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, education is the best antidote to racism.

Exposure to other races, however, has the opposite effect (decreased tolerance toward other races), regardless how much education (or reeducation) an individual has undergone. [1]-[19] Which begs the question: can we ever achieve a society that is both multicultural and welcoming to all races? All the science suggests no; we can either have our cake, or eat it. We must choose. [1] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1…

[1]-[19]

Let's see some proper citations that actual prove your ridiculous claim instead of just dumping a bunch of links and saying that this proves your pseudo scientific claim. No wonder you made a throwaway.

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

#93

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…

[deleted]

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

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

seems disingenuous to suggest race had no part in her decision. it's not a coincidence she started getting racist in defense. if someone is spouting off the N word while beating up a black dude i seriously doubt you'd demonstrate the ignorance or audacity required to call it irrelevant. so what's the difference?

> if someone is spouting off the N word while beating up a black dude... Actually the vibe I'm getting from OP is that he would find some way to blame the black guy.

Man had every right to beat him, he just made the mistake of bringing race into it

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

#95

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…

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…

The host rented to the guest knowing she was Asian from the start. She didn't have a problem with her race at that point. Things only got nasty once they got nasty.

If you had a nasty fight with someone, and it ended with that person saying, "Well, it's because you're white (or Indian or whatever you are). That's why," would you immediately assume this person hated everyone of your race? Or would you assume you'd gotten under his skin enough that he reached down into his bag of dirty insults and pulled out anything he could find to hit you with?

It'd be one thing if this host never rented to Asians, or responded to an initial query with a message like, "I don't rent to Asians."

But in this case, it looks like a nasty fight between two women, one of whom picked the wrong (politically sensitive) angle to insult the other on, and the other who decided to play up the victim card and record video of herself crying and make a big sob story, and collect a nice little payday for the trouble.

I'd be very curious to know more about Miss Suh's background. In my experience with these sorts of cases, it is rarely the plaintiff's first rodeo.

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

#96

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…

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…

Not wanting to rent to Asians isn't a fair housing violation. Not renting to Asians is. She did, in fact, come to a rental agreement with the Asian woman. The desire to not rent to Asians was not stated until after the agreement had been broken for a different (and valid) reason.

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

#97

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.

So you think this person is racist, but that they don't act like it? You're assuming that they wouldn't have treated a white person behaving the same way differently, even though you KNOW this person is very easily triggered into racist tirades? While acting as an AirBnB host? I just don't see how you can look and that and think "yeah, they probably treat all their guests equally regardless of race. I'm sure she's ve…

>So you think this person is racist, but that they don't act like it?

No, I think this person is not racist, but acted like one in the heat of the argument.

>You're assuming that they wouldn't have treated a white person behaving the same way differently, even though you KNOW this person is very easily triggered into racist tirades?

If I understood this correctly, I don't see how that follows.

>I'm sure she's very nice to OTHER, better behaving Asian law students

She was nice for most of the conversation that is available until the guest kept adding dogs and people to the arrangement even though the host said they can't allow dogs.

Having watched the video, I am pretty sure the guest specifically tried to get a reaction that she could use and was successfully able to do so. Some of the conversation is missing and I hope the host makes it public to make matters clear.

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

#98
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lady approved of the extra people and dogs ahead of time for an added fee.

She had approved knowing the race of the person so the reason she cancelled was definitely not racist. I think she was just stupid enough to make those remarks and I hope she is being punished for that. Otherwise, this is wrong.

You are presuming people or racism is logical. It is common for someone to say one thing then mean another, it is so common we even have words for it.

It is also entirely possible the racist person did this intentionally to maximize the inconvenience to the renter. There are hundred other ways to explain this. Some racist and some not racist, but dropping phrases as overtly racist as hers has a way of sounding truthful in situation like this.

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

#99

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…

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 accomplish that goal. If telling someone "you're a responsible human being who loves his mother" caused someone to be offended, lots of people would say that when they are angry.

I'm totally on the judges sides in this case, once those words come out of your mouth there is no going back and you should be responsible for them.

I guess I just wonder if there is a relatively easy and sure-fire way to piss people off without being offensive? What's a better way for people to express their anger in a childish way ?

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

#100

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…

I agree with you. Barker got a bad deal. She made the mistake of using racial language that the media could latch onto.

Anyone who objectively looks at the situation would conclude that Suh was a spoiled entitled brat who exploited this situation. It's disgusting how she used her crocodile tears to exploit the media and the people.

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