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This picture show results of a search for Portland properties on Airbnb in 2014. The city should take steps to help prevent discrimination by Airbnb hosts, the authors write.
(Airbnb website)
By Nkenge Harmon Johnson, Charles McGee and JoAnn Hardesty
The City of Portland recently announced a set of new rules intended to crack down on illegal short term rentals listed on sites like Airbnb ("Portland weighs bigger fines for Airbnb scofflaws," Nov. 16, 2016).
We applaud the City Council and many advocates in our community for recognizing the negative impacts that commercial Airbnb listings have on housing affordability and local neighborhoods. These issues matter to communities of color, and they rightly deserve attention. But within this conversation about short-term rentals, there is a separate issue of social justice that cannot be overlooked, especially, considering our recent national nightmare and the rise in racist activities in our nation and local communities.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 created protections against discrimination in public accommodations. Those protections extend to all commercial lodging facilities where the host does not actually occupy the building, and they explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin.
In fact, a recent study by fivethirtyeight.com found that more than 40% of Airbnb revenue in Portland comes from commercial listings, where a host offers public accommodation and is not physically present in the home. While it remains an unsettled question, many legal scholars have argued that these hosts - and perhaps Airbnb itself - are subject to the Civil Rights Act.
The problem of discrimination is well-documented across the Airbnb platform. Numerous stories document cases of minorities being denied accommodation on the basis of race, religion, nationality or gender. A 2016 Harvard Business School study found that black users, in particular, are 16% less likely to be granted accommodation compared to their white counterparts. This bias is enabled as a result of Airbnb's model, which asks hosts to review personal profiles and photographs of prospective guests prior to booking.
Airbnb has made some recent acknowledgments of these concerns. Last month, it asked its hosts to sign an "anti-discrimination pledge," which is in essence a promise to not discriminate. But this pledge has no visible enforcement mechanism.
There are a number of suggestions that have been made on how to address this problem. We'd like to offer two. First, Portland should follow San Francisco's lead in compelling Airbnb to share its booking data, including the names, addresses and record of guest stays at each property, which will support meaningful follow up on discrimination complaints. Second, the city should restrict Airbnb from allowing users to display an actual name or photo until after a reservation has been confirmed.
During these unusual times, the city has an opportunity to establish common sense protections within emerging "sharing" marketplaces. We are not in opposition; we just want to ensure that discrimination does not occur. We encourage the City Council to make it clear that discrimination against people of color, religious minorities and the LGBTQ community is as unacceptable on Airbnb as it is in a traditional hotel, by taking these reasonable steps to protect short term renters.
Nkenge Harmon Johnson is president of the Urban League of Portland. Charles McGee is president of the Black Parent Initiative. JoAnn Hardesty is president of the Portland chapter of the NAACP.