A man who says he was barred from posting his vacation rentals on Airbnb because of derogatory comments about Black women has appealed to Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, for help.
According to X user Petey B, he was banned from being an Airbnb host, and all of his bookings were canceled after “they deemed” him “as racist” based on his X posts. He now believes Musk should help him because it is allegedly punishment for free speech.
“You said if anyone loses financially due to free speech on X you would help. I don’t want the money, I want a repost or your ‘wow’ comments from you to expose Airbnb,” Petey wrote to Musk. “I can 100% guarantee you, I have NEVER discriminated against anyone. How did they even connect listings to my profile here? Help a brotha out to expose those trying to block free speech?”
Petey shared a screenshot of correspondence that he reportedly received from Airbnb informing him of the company’s decision. The company stated that it was in line with its “community standards and policies” that are meant to “ensure a safe and respectful environment for all users.”
In another screenshot allegedly from the company, Airbnb said it also reviewed his X account, which has a name and photo similar to his profile on the vacation rental platform.
According to Petey, he was a super host with more than 200 reviews from “people of all ethnicities,” and he has denied being discriminatory.
Airbnb’s nondiscrimination policy prohibits hosts from making “any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest on account of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.”
“Never once did I discriminate against any guest. They say because of my rants about Black American females I was discriminating,” he wrote. “On the contrary, all I did was have to manually approve guests to make sure they aren’t throwing parties. I rented my villas to African Americans and all ethnicities.”
However, on April 27, Petey shared details of an encounter his friend had with “American Black girls.” He said that the Black women complained about the man smoking a cigarette at a restaurant in Greece, but when his friend told them “nicely” that it was allowed, the women “began screaming and acting hysterical” and protested to the manager, who told them it was allowed.
Petey said the women then refused to pay for their meals, and the manager blocked them from leaving and threatened to call authorities.
“They continued screaming at my friend who proceeded to (tell) them to shut their mouths and that they are dressed like sluts,” he wrote. “All the Greek patrons told them to zip their mouths and to never come back. That’s the Greece I love. BTW the girls were ghetto.”
Other users seemingly called out Petey for the racist implications of his post.
“What does their ethnicity have to do with it?” one user asked. “I don’t think it’s a black or white thing; I think it’s a usually USA thing. People in (the) USA still have the rule that (the) customer is king,” another user wrote.
However, the post also prompted other users to attack Black American women.
“Yes, I’m very familiar with fat, black American women these days traveling to Europe in a group. They are loud and obnoxious. They sometimes cry racism in places like France or Italy,” one user replied to Petey’s post.
“They act like a diva everywhere. I’ve noticed they also don’t get any attention from the men anywhere in Europe which might trigger them too.”
According to Petey’s X account, he hails from Greece, where racism against Black tourists has been documented in the news and on social media.
In 2017, Bakari Henderson, 22, a Black female college student from Colorado, was beaten to death by a group of men while vacationing in the country.
Violence against migrants and refugees has also reached the highest level it has been since 2015, according to a recent report by Reuters. Many of the migrants in Greece are from sub-Saharan Africa, reports show.
Despite Petey’s outcry about his Airbnb ban, he posted a photo of a statue of George Floyd on May 26, calling it “peak retardation for the USA.”
So far, it doesn’t appear that Musk has responded to Petey’s cry for help.
