If you are an Airbnb host in Oregon, this is for you because you will soon be blocked from initially seeing the full names of the guests that will be staying on your property, according to NBC News.
The policy is put in place as an “experiment” to repress discrimination against Black travelers because lord knows the last couple of years Airbnb hosts have done some heinous things towards their Black guests.
Although this is not Airbnb’s first attempt at trying to tackle discrimination.
According to NBC News, the new policy is set to take effect on Jan. 31 and will last for two years as Airbnb hosts will only be able to see the initials of possible guests.
From NBC News:
An Airbnb representative couched the policy change as an experiment in one state.
“Given that the impact of this change is unknown, the implementation will be limited” to Oregon, Airbnb spokeswoman Liz DeBold Fusco said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday.
The experiment is linked to the 2019 settlement of a lawsuit by three Black plaintiffs — Pat Harrington, Carlotta Franklin and Ebony Price — who said the site allowed rental owners to discriminate against customers based on race.
“This update is consistent with the voluntary settlement agreement we reached in 2019 with individuals in Oregon who raised concerns regarding the way guests’ names are displayed when they seek to book a listing,” according to the Airbnb statement.
“As part of our ongoing work, we will take any learnings from this process and use them to inform future efforts to fight bias.”
Black people with “black-sounding” names have always faced discrimination and stigma because of what their mother gave them.
Per the story from NBC News, University of Kentucky Librarian Reinette Jones says there is nothing wrong or discriminatory about being curious about someone just because of their name, as long as it doesn’t lead to a discriminatory act, as it has in the past with Airbnb hosts; that led to Black travelers over the years sharing their negative experiences with Airbnb hosts with the popular hashtag, #AirbnbWhileBlack.