Industry News
A Racist Incident Led this Black Man to Launch Noirbnb by Parker Diakite
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lack travelers could probably tell you about that time when. That time when you were mistaken as a celebrity. Or that time when people rushed to take a picture like you’re a prop, touch your skin and hair without your permission because they’ve never seen a person of color. There are times when people nearly fall over with their blatant stares. Or that time when you were delayed or even refused service in a country because of the color of your skin. For Stefan Grant, he would tell you about the time when neighbors of an Airbnb he was renting in Atlanta called the police on him and his housemates. “One of the homies came and woke me up, and I’m thinking he wants to ask me about breakfast or something, but he tells me, ‘the cops are here,’” said Grant to Stefan Grant, Founder, Noirbnb Travel Noire. “I go outside and see these two police officers with their guns drawn, and they’re aiming them at us. They were trying to figure out what we’re doing there.” This happened in 2015 – one year after police officers killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Grant says he was struggling with that, but his whole mindset was deescalating the
situation. He and his housemates had to prove to the cops they were occupying the house legally. Grant posted the situation on his social media with the caption: “Yo! The Airbnb we’re staying at is so nice, the neighbors thought we were robbing the place & called the cops!” His next post on Twitter was from an audacious neighbor. “After that happened, one of the neighbors knocked on the door asking what we were doing there, and he tries to walk in the house,” Grant added.
Torrence Reed | Chief Technology Officer, Noirbnb
The posts went viral, and soon after, Grant started getting messages from people around the world sharing their similar experiences of discrimination while using Airbnb or other platforms. “People were saying how they would try to rent a spot but get denied so, would have to change their profile photo to a white person to get approved. I heard stories about how people would book a
10 | ABA Publications | Africa TRAVEL | May 2021
