Quite honestly - because what you probably characterise as ‘race’ manifests in my part of the world as ‘language proficiency’ plus cultural background - as far as choosing to go into a long-term business relationship and custodianship of an expensive asset counts.
Skin colour is really not the thing in my town (I can say this with a straight face) compared to ‘how many years they have resided in the country’ and participated in activities such as “putting the rubbish out regularly”, “having neighbours” or “living in houses made of wood”
Yes, social factors influence a person-to-person rental agreement.
OK, I’l lay it out there:
In my experience:
Female lease-holders are more likely to:
Keep the place hygienic
remember to water the plants/garden
and are more contentious about following up to make sure any loose ends / bills are covered
There are other factors that may count against those, but, all other things being equal, yes, it’s a safer bet for a landlord to have a female than a male looking after your house.
In. My. Localized. Experience.
And exceptions (sometimes dramatic) have existed. Not enough to change the odds however.
Pretending this pattern does not exist would be willfully ignorant. Acknowledging this pattern exists is sexist.
I took a cinematography lighting class in college, and remember my instructor making a comment on specific lighting gels that worked well with dark skin. It was stated without any followup as to why, but they clearly added to areas of the spectrum that film is less sensitive to.
Discrimination in housing laws exist for an obvious reason – to prevent discriminatory reactions to the inevitably subjective perception of such “patterns.” If a landlord encounters what seems like similar behavior amidst a seemingly similar demographic, that’s a risk of doing business, not a valid (nor as I understand it, legal) reason to discriminate.
I one time in my life stayed at a real deal, 5 star hotel. The Royal York in Toronto. This is where the king and queen of England stay when they are in town.
I was even on the VIP floor and they had free Hors d’oeuvres at night. So I tried my first oyster. They also had cheese and crackers, but it was unlike any cheese and crackers I had ever seen. So yes, I would say “Fancy Crackers” are a category unto their own.
Not just black skin. I had a black cat growing up–it was impossible to
correctly expose both her and the scene as the the film didn’t have the
dynamic range needed.
Yes, the onus is on the business owner and so many take that to mean “profile people.” Well, for every stereotype, there are lots of people who will break it. LOTS, and in unexpected ways.
My friend’s husband is from Africa. He’s actually tribal chief, too, but living and working here in the USA. He’s “whiter” than I am, if you can even call it that. Let’s just call it “whiteness” for sake of this conversation. White, as in: his mannerisms, tastes and external affect are pretty well East-coast yuppie type behavior. It’s not a put-on. It’s how he is. And he’s a great guy. So to apply a “pattern” to him in order to deny him something would be an extreme act of prejudice. Not because of his “whiteness.” Because he doesn’t fit a mold. You have an idea what a black African dude is like in your head? Well, this guy is NOT that.
And I have another friend from the same African nation who is the complete polar opposite of the first guy in his personal conduct. Also, a great fuckin’ guy! Totally different and I love them for who they are.
So fuck this talk of patterns. It’s sick talk. If you (an AirBnB host or landlord) have stuff that’s gonna get stolen, put it away. If you are worried about smells, then clean your place of lingering odors and buy hypo-allergenic sheets. It’s not the people; it’s how the place retains smell. If you are worried about criminal history, then do background checks. If you are worried about ability to pay, then do a credit check and get a risk profile. Fuck all this sexist, racist talk.
No. It actually didn’t cost me that much. You see I had met up with people online and we came from across the nation to play in a Paintball tournament in the Skydome.
One of the guys evidently had a dad with connections, and I paid as much as I would have if I had stayed at the nearby Holiday Inn.
But I was still VIP.
The 13th floor was the VIP floor and had their own check in area and their own customer service. I was there in a KMFDM shirt and jeans and asked the lady at the counter to change some money. She sent me down stairs to the main desk.
OK fine, I didn’t care. I go down stairs and the lady says, “Oh, Mister.44, you know you can change money at the VIP desk as well.”
“OH, she told me to come here.”
“OH she did?” BAM - shes on the phone reprimanding the lady upstairs. Not harshly, and I didn’t care, but I guess if you had some fancy VIP guest who was sent down stairs who did care it would have been bad for her.
Super nice place. Probably wasted on a 20 year old.
