Trump effect: Racist rant on Airbnb
SAN JOSE, CALIF.— A now-banned Airbnb host must pay $5,000 and take a college-level course in Asian-American studies after cancelling a guest’s reservation because she is Asian. The host also invoked U.S. President Donald Trump.
Dyne Suh said she booked a cabin in Big Bear, Calif., in February and was only minutes away from the cabin after driving through rain and snow when she received text messages from the host, Tami Barker, cancelling her reservation. The texts read: “I wouldn’t rent it to u if u were the last person on earth” and “One word says it all. Asian.”
Barker also texted: “This is why we have Trump” as well as “And I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.”
The hostile texts were in response to Suh’s questions about whether she could pay cash for the extra fees the two had agreed on after Suh asked whether it was OK to bring along two friends and two dogs.
Suh recounted the experience in a YouTube video posted in April. She was tearful as she said, “I’m an American citizen.”
Suh, a law student at the University of California, Los Angeles and a law clerk at the Riverside County Public Defender’s Office, released a statement on her Facebook page after the fine was levied.
“I hope that more victims of discrimination will feel encouraged to come forward with their own stories, empowered now with the knowledge that government entities such as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and other civil rights organizations will take our cases seriously and fight vigorously for us,” she said. “Asian Americans are often left out of conversations about race relations, even though we are also targets of racism and discrimination.”
The DFEH also ordered Barker to issue a personal apology to Suh and complete community service at a civil rights organization, and she must report rental data to the agency for four years.
Barker was permanently banned from Airbnb in April after the company conducted an investigation into Suh’s complaint.
Edward Lee, Barker’s lawyer, told the Guardian, which first reported the settlement, that his client was “regretful for her impetuous actions and comments.”