Airbnb inclusivity

[Anonymous]

"Here are the keys to my house. You have a room to yourself, you can come and go at your leisure, my personal life is fully on display to you, and you can join my family in our shared space whenever you wish to have company. Here's a leash if you'd like my dog to walk you to the best park."

That is the default orientation that a typical homestay host like myself offers. Not because we're trying to adhere to some notion of "inclusivity" concocted by a boardroom full of newly minted billionaire white men in San Francisco, but because we care about a humanistic tradition of hospitality that predates the corporate culture of superficial virtue-signaling by millennia.

We do this on the basis of far more trust than is even rational, considering the fact that our guests come through a listing service that deliberately withholds valuable information about the people we're letting into our homes, because it doesn't trust us to be "inclusive" on our own free will.

Apologies if this is outdated, but here is the panel of people who are trying to teach us a lesson in what it means to be inclusive:

I challenge every host to look back through the history of guests they've welcomed into their homes and find a group less diverse than this. Do these magical concepts of Inclusivity and Belonging not apply to the 67% male, overwhelmingly-white boardroom?

[Helen3]

As one of the few active black and ethnic minority hosts who post on this forum it would indeed be surprising if I didn't respond to a post around inclusivity. @Dale711 

Strange indeed you feel the need to comment on me doing so.

[Dale711]

[Sarah977]

@Dale711   "

Helen3 ,@Sarah977 ,

I’m not surprised you’re following the proposal"

What is that supposed to mean?

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

Maybe there are some gay people among them.
Does it count for "inclusivity"?

[Dale711]

Salut @Nathalie-Et-Gilles0,

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻Bonne 

[Melodie-And-John0]

Hi @Nathalie-Et-Gilles0 , sure it counts as diversity, actually, "everybody" is diverse when considered as the sum of their total parts cause no two humans are truly alike!  At the same time physiologically, we are so much more alike than any shallow registration of purely cutaneous skin level attributes alone which is a very good definition of Discrimination itself. 

 I cant help but bring the honorable and respected cartoon character that was an awesome growing human not just a blob of ink.    Dr Seuss pointed out  parsing humans like petunias or X's or O's will only lead to greater and more complex problems not thinking human worthy solutions.   Its targeting no matter how you look at it and wrong, you arent who you are because of the color of your skin nor are you likely a walking sexual preference, humans are complex animals and deserve more recognition for their total package not any wrapping paper or bow.   Im proud to say I dont have a single white, black or gay friend,  neighbor or enemy, just human ones, each one with a unique flavor and style.   

[Melodie-And-John0]

Wow @Anonymous ,  that looks like a picture that doesnt match a movement they say they are spearheading for sure.   I have to echo you're white dudes noticement, it almost always seems insincere to see a bunch of X's try to prove they care most for all the O's yet don't regularly break bread with them much less host them in their homes.   The optics suck at the very least but their methods seem to be void of understanding of unintended consequences.  Hosts and guests with darker skin are being put at risk by their cloaking policies that are supposed to "Protect them from racisim and other isms".   

I work in a semi elite rural tiny University that is putting way more resources towards diversifying our student body than helping poor folks and families that surround it and are the workforce that is the lifeblood of the school Custodians, trades and other laborers.   Our entire admin and faculdeanies have been replaced over the last decade with "diversity employees"  to try to make that happen and while they certainly are trying very hard and throwing millions of dollars monthly at the challenge, they don't seem to be any better than a room full of white dudes they replaced at making it happen the way they hoped.   I know so many International students and darker skinned students that were never prepared in their prior schooling for Ivy league'ish levels of Academia and are being traumatized trying to complete much less compete at that level.  They would have been far better off going to a good state College like my fellow rural friends and neighbors kids that came from poor schools that were far closer to the bottom of the pickle barrel not the Berkley Top of it.  

Its not that all the presidents/ CEO's Peeps visions don't have merit,  its just not "a situation" that can be looked at as Black or White, gay or straight like they are and have been and probably will continue to do until they eliminate or cancel so many folks that they and we can't maintain a viable business.  Lodging Providers and Universities have customers just like every other business and they need to keep their eye on the ball not everyone elses' balls, Just sayin!   For very smart people, they do really dumb things.     Stay well, JR 

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Anonymous 

It looks like a « mind your own business » reply 🙄

or what about :

 « do as I say, not as I do »?

[Anonymous]

@Nathalie-Et-Gilles0  I'm sure they are all unique individuals regardless of their demographic profiles. But if they seriously want to ask how much hosts are doing to "promote inclusivity,"  I would say that the act of hosting does this in and of itself. In this kind of hospitality, you have no choice but to be welcoming and inclusive to all who stay with you if you want to succeed.  

In contrast, the corporate execs can pick and choose who to be "inclusive" with among their own ranks, and in turn that determines what kind of voices get to enter the echo chamber. In their world, inclusivity is a symbolic virtue to decorate the brand with, rather than something to embody in life and work.

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Anonymous et al,

I think perhaps we could have been clearer in the goal of the original topic. By no means was it mean to insinuate any Host doesn't already do everything in their power to be welcoming to all and make their listing as accessible as possible, and I apologise if it's come across that way. 

We're really just looking for tips and activities Host may want to share that they believe helps show their inclusivity; we thought those sorts of replies would be very interesting for CC members to read about! There's quite a few replies now on the original thread which are what we were hoping for, in the positive guest experiences and stories region. 

We've got a Resource Center article that's linked to this CC topic which I was hoping to include but unfortunately it won't be ready until next week, but the lady you see in the picture used is a Superhost from that article. 

In general for this thread, I'd ask you all to be respectful of each others opinions and thoughts. Remember, any discussion should be around the subject matter, not any individual. 

Many thanks,

Stephanie

[Anonymous]

@Stephanie  I would have preferred if you asked for my consent before making a new topic out of my response. Had I been given the choice, I would have asked you to remove it altogether, because it's context-dependent. But this beast is alive now, and I don't want the thoughts others have taken the time to express to be censored.

Maybe there can be a special demarcation for topics that are just soliciting content for a fluff piece, so we don't accidentally mistake them for discussions?

p.s.: my apologies to the lovely host who I mistook for a model; I hope the error was flattering.

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Melodie-And-John0 

It was second degree humour 🙂

It is illegal to ask for sexual preferences for guests or employees.
So officially it does not count as you are supposed not to know.

In France, we call that 'plafond de verre' = Glass ceiling.
Officially, nothing empeach a non white man to become a director.

Reality is slightly different because it is based cooptage.

[Craig71]

@Anonymous you made my day. I woke up to a "private message" from Airbnb to check out the community. I have been a SuperHost for years but never really used the community thing. Anyway, I have been bothered for a while now about the preachy politics of the Airbnb Lords. They do a lot of things well, but I find all the virtue signaling is annoying and insulting. I would respect them alot more if they said what most of us hosts have always done -- we strive to make your stay as memorable and enjoyable as possible. 

[Anonymous]

@Craig71  Yep. Airbnb could learn a lot from its hosts about authenticity in its messaging. The preachy stuff tends to come off like:

"We believe in being inclusive of all voices...as long as they're saying exactly what we want them to!"

"Black lives matter! But please don't scare us with black opinions!"

[Ute42]

.

@Anonymous   

Thanks for posting the poster of airbnb's top management. They are all snow white, I didn't even know that.

@Stephanie  

Why did You move Andrew's post? I know You've already explained why You did it but I disagree. Andrew is an experienced contributor to the CC and he knows what to post and where to post it. Quite frankly, by moving Andrew's post it is taken out of context and looks a little weird, whereas it perfectly fitted in it's original spot.