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SJW outrage articles like these hopefully will die out as gawker-style journalism does. I don't see how this adds anything to any conversation other than the de

SJW outrage articles like these hopefully will die out as gawker-style journalism does. I don't see how this adds anything to any conversation other than the demographic that travels in the US is primarily white as the US itself is 77% white. I think there will always be perceived racism or other "isms." Playing up edge cases for ad imperssions seems questionable to me. There are 2 million listings on Airbnb, its clear edge cases will always be there. Also, it would be trivial to use this brand of multiculturalism to justify open racism. Why should a Chinese person in Chinatown who doesn't speak English allow a white family to stay in their property? Or allowing a Russian to deny a Ukranian? Or allowing a black family who have been victimized by the police to allow a family containing police officers. I imagine most SJW's would agree for "special exemptions" for these cases. The idea that no one should be turned down is asinine. These are people's homes and by the 4th Amendment the government can't shove people in them. Want to stay somewhere where they don't have these issues? Then call a hotel.

Kinnard 10y ago
Did you read through the article? It seems they're reporting on something airbnb users, the company, and academic researchers have recognized as a problem and what's being done about it, including a few startups. Not to mention the whole socially pertinent(Trump???) legacy of entrenched discrimination in the U.S.
- 101983801 10y ago
  Liberal tree-hugging anti-racist hippie here: I'm not sure if the original story is racism. If I (white) am staying in a Chinese apartment house that otherwise only has Chinese tenants then the likelihood that someone recognizes me as a non-tenant is 100%. Therefore, the likelihood that someone reports me as a stranger is far greater than if I were Chinese. In other words, I'd not be surprised if someone reported me (white) while staying in a (hypothetical) Chinese AirBnB. As far as "recognizing the problem" goes: You pretty much have to acknowledge a "problem" if something like this comes up or you'll be harassed on the Internet.
return0 10y ago
These are not the droids you are looking for. The monopolies of SV do not exist in vacuum, they should adhere to the laws that the broader society has decided.
GantzGraf 10y ago
You didn't read the article, did you?
- khattam 10y ago
  I read the article, am non-white (because that is super important apparently, specially to white libtards who choose to be offended on my behalf), and completely agree with him. Also, if my neighbor saw a bunch of strangers in my house when I was away, I would want them to call the police. The problem in that particular case is not that they called the police but that the neighbours were not notified about unexpected strangers staying in the neighborhood. If someone doesn't want me (a brown male) to stay in their house, I would absolutely like to know and would prefer to have a filter to easily find only the places that accept someone like me. The problem is not discrimination. The problem is anti-discrimination bullshit the company has to go through if they provided such a filter to make lives easy for everyone.
  - dang 10y ago
    > white libtards This breaks the HN guidelines, which ask you not to call names in arguments. Please (re-)read them and post civilly and substantively, or not at all. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html
IanDrake 10y ago
>Did you read the article?... Proof: out of 6,000+ availability request made (without checking actual availability which is known, but sending a request anyway) 50% of "white sounding names" were accepted, while only 42% of "black sounding names" where accepted. That's like 8%!!! That means people are racist! Or it means that the randomness of actually available houses was skewed where "black sounding names" were assigned more unavailable houses. I wonder how many times they tried this experiment to get the result they were looking for.

Kinnard 10y ago

Did you read through the article? It seems they're reporting on something airbnb users, the company, and academic researchers have recognized as a problem and what's being done about it, including a few startups. Not to mention the whole socially pertinent(Trump???) legacy of entrenched discrimination in the U.S.

101983801 10y ago
Liberal tree-hugging anti-racist hippie here: I'm not sure if the original story is racism. If I (white) am staying in a Chinese apartment house that otherwise only has Chinese tenants then the likelihood that someone recognizes me as a non-tenant is 100%. Therefore, the likelihood that someone reports me as a stranger is far greater than if I were Chinese. In other words, I'd not be surprised if someone reported me (white) while staying in a (hypothetical) Chinese AirBnB. As far as "recognizing the problem" goes: You pretty much have to acknowledge a "problem" if something like this comes up or you'll be harassed on the Internet.

return0 10y ago

These are not the droids you are looking for. The monopolies of SV do not exist in vacuum, they should adhere to the laws that the broader society has decided.

GantzGraf 10y ago

You didn't read the article, did you?

khattam 10y ago
I read the article, am non-white (because that is super important apparently, specially to white libtards who choose to be offended on my behalf), and completely agree with him. Also, if my neighbor saw a bunch of strangers in my house when I was away, I would want them to call the police. The problem in that particular case is not that they called the police but that the neighbours were not notified about unexpected strangers staying in the neighborhood. If someone doesn't want me (a brown male) to stay in their house, I would absolutely like to know and would prefer to have a filter to easily find only the places that accept someone like me. The problem is not discrimination. The problem is anti-discrimination bullshit the company has to go through if they provided such a filter to make lives easy for everyone.
- dang 10y ago
  > white libtards This breaks the HN guidelines, which ask you not to call names in arguments. Please (re-)read them and post civilly and substantively, or not at all. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html

IanDrake 10y ago

>Did you read the article?... Proof: out of 6,000+ availability request made (without checking actual availability which is known, but sending a request anyway) 50% of "white sounding names" were accepted, while only 42% of "black sounding names" where accepted. That's like 8%!!! That means people are racist! Or it means that the randomness of actually available houses was skewed where "black sounding names" were assigned more unavailable houses. I wonder how many times they tried this experiment to get the result they were looking for.