CommentsTHIS IS WHAT I KNOW--Earlier this year, Airbnb host Tami Barker refused to honor Dyne Suh’s reservation, tweeting, “I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners. It’s why we have Trump.”
Barker was kicked off the hosting platform but the consequences do not end there.
California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing has stepped in, ordering the former Airbnb host to issue an apology to Suh, as well as to participate in a community education panel, volunteer at a civil rights organization, and to pay $5,000 in damages.
The Department also ordered Barker to enroll in an Asian American Studies course.
Last February, minutes before Suh and her guests were set to arrive at Barker’s property, located near Big Bear, Barker cancelled the reservation. The Airbnb host texted, “I wouldn’t rent to u if u were the last person on earth. One word says it all. Asian,” following an exchange in which Suh told Barker she would report the cancellation to Airbnb.
Suh filed a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing in April. In a Facebook post after the initial incident, she acknowledged the gravity of discrimination faced by others who may be even more marginalized.
“I only got discriminated against for lodging on a ski trip -- other people have gotten murdered, or otherwise far more seriously harmed for their identities. I beg for people to think about if such discrimination can happen to a light-skinned cis East Asian woman who is in law school, middle class, in a heterosexual relationship, able-bodied, is a U.S. citizen, and Christian, how much harder it must be for people who are less-advantaged and please stand with them,” she wrote.
The rhetoric and proposed policies of the Trump administration have left many vulnerable to the words and actions of those who in the past may have given discriminatory words a second thought. The notion of anti-PC has opened the door to divisiveness and ugly behavior. The Department of Fair Employment – and Suh – did the right thing by stepping up. In an environment where discrimination is accepted in some circles, it’s especially imperative that we use our voices to express our disapproval of prejudice, whether we are targeted or we witness someone else targeted.
(Beth Cone Kramer is a Los Angeles writer and a columnist for CityWatch.)
-cw
