A Californian Airbnb host will soon find herself sitting in a classroom, facing international condemnation, with her wallet $5k lighter. All because of one word: Asian.
Tami Barker cancelled a reservation for 26-year-old law clerk Dyne Suh and her friends when they were just minutes away from the mountain cabin they had booked for a skiing weekend. When the party texted to confirm their imminent arrival at the cabin in Big Bear, California, they were told by the host: “I wouldn’t rent it to u if u were the last person on earth” and “One word says it all. Asian”.
I’m sure some people looked at this story and thought: “Here we go again, turning a case of bad customer service into a civil rights campaign.” But these cases matter. They matter because most of the time racism is that bit more camouflaged. Without the word “Asian”, Barker would have been just another mysteriously grumpy hotelier, shopkeeper or police officer. Continually being asked to prove the existence of systemic societal racism is tiring so flagging up the times when society’s slip is showing and someone blurts out something undeniable is not folly, it helps to change the framing on the larger conversations.
When Suh threatened to complain about the treatment she was getting, Barker told her: “It’s why we have Trump … and I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.” Unfortunately for Barker, Airbnb has recently reached a groundbreaking agreement with the Californian authorities, which allows the government to test for discrimination among the firm’s hosts. The company has also taken some pretty major steps to deal with allegations of racism from its hosts and a lack of diversity in its staff.
Hopefully the ruling will have a positive effect on Barker. Very few people ever think of themselves as racists. But maybe reflecting on the incident and then learning about a group of people she obviously has some animosity towards will lead to some development. The fine seems reasonable compensation for Suh’s party, but the college-level Asian American studies class and the personal apology may feel just as rewarding. When you have been attacked for your very identity, vindication that this is not acceptable behaviour is valuable.
On both sides of the Atlantic there has been an emboldening of racisms and racists in recent years and our rights to be treated fairly and walk the streets safely seem under threat. Barker’s remarks only have weight because she was able to have an impact on Suh’s life. How much more impactful, though, are the words of those who make our laws?
When Tory MP Anne Marie Morris summoned up the distressing image of black people fleeing for their lives from hideous oppression to make a casual point about the EU, she was initially ignored and then handed out a suspension that could see her back in her place within three months. If politics is to be open to all, there can be no room for discriminatory or offensive language.
The aim isn’t to catch people out for using archaic phrases, it should be to educate and inform so the person who caused offence learns why their comments were problematic and so hopefully chooses not to cause offence in future. It’s offender rehabilitation. People have the right to give offence, but then other people have a right to take the offence they have been given.
When Labour MP Naz Shah was found to have made antisemitic remarks before she became an MP, she was suspended from the party and seems to have come back with a much better understanding of why her comments were a problem. It will be interesting to see what Morris’s attitude is on her return to the Tory benches.
All of this is just window-dressing, though. Whether an MP uses racist phrases and harbours bigoted views is only a sideshow to systemic discrimination. All the soft words about inclusion and fairness mean nothing if we don’t prioritise fixing the playing field. Last year, when Theresa May was popular, she announced a report into Britain’s racial disparities. The report, she claimed, would be the first step on her mission to tackle “burning injustices”. A calamitous election and a genuine burning injustice later, the report is being sat on because highlighting racism is no longer on the prime minister’s to-do list. It apparently contains the “explosive” revelation that racism is alive and well in the UK, but that’s not on Theresa May’s list of approved messages.
We can rap the knuckles of all the Airbnb hosts and out-of-touch MPs we like, but if we don’t face and tackle the bigger issues, we’re wasting our time.