An Airbnb host, who is an Asian woman, can be seen in a viral video asking Black guests, “which monkey is going to sleep on the couch?”
Two of the men involved, Meshach Cisero and Brandon Pérez, posted a series of videos on Twitter of the incident and its aftermath.
The host was seemingly upset that the men arrived with five guests rather than the original four she was expecting. An argument ensued about where the fifth person would sleep. One of the men said the fifth person would sleep on the couch.
She then used the slur to refer to the men.
Pérez wrote on Twitter that the group was kicked out of the Airbnb.
“My friends were profiled, called monkeys and kicked out of an NYC Airbnb at 2am last night … I’m livid,” Pérez posted to Twitter, along with the video.
*WATCH THIS AND SHARE PLEASE*
— Tu Mayimbe (@soybperez) June 1, 2019
My friends were profiled, called monkeys nd kicked out of a NYC @Airbnb at 2am last night. The video captures the racial epithets, but not the fullness of her bigotry. I’m livid.
Help by sharing and tagging @Airbnb
POC and Video: @mcisero24 pic.twitter.com/ftuy9odg9x
https://twitter.com/deelew06/status/1134808117940764677
Benjamin Breit, a spokesperson for Airbnb, told the Daily Dot that the company is enacting its nondiscrimination policy to remove the host in question from its platform.
“The language used in this video is unacceptable and has no place in the Airbnb community,” Breit wrote in a statement. “We are supporting Mr. Cisero and his friends in getting them a new place to stay through our Open Doors policy.”
Airbnb–through its open doors policy–works to find guests who have been discriminated against a new place to stay.
“We’re thankful to them for bringing this to our attention so we could take action,” Breit wrote.
Twitter users expressed their outrage upon seeing the video. Many used it to make commentary on the racism and discrimination many Black people face, even at the hands of other people of color.
https://twitter.com/BigupsJQ/status/1134897385673568256
When non-black PoC wanna tell me that anti-blackness doesn’t exist, I’mma show them this.
— Iz Zay 🪻 (@OrKeyDeeAh) June 1, 2019
Y’all racist minorities be tripping me the fuck OUT.
— alyssa (@kthhcore) June 1, 2019
wow @Airbnb fire this host she violates the i&d policy amongst other things she needs banned
— DEONTE (@deon95) June 2, 2019
Noirbnb, an organization which focuses on accommodation travelers of color, reached out to Pérez on Twitter, offering its support.
https://twitter.com/Noirbnb/status/1134917057697525760
Airbnb has taken measures to prevent discrimination from happening on its platform, according to Breit. The company has all hosts agree to a community commitment, prior to hosting.
The commitment has its users agree to “treat everyone in the Airbnb community–regardless of their race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age—with respect, and without judgment or bias.”
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H/T NewsOne
