By now we’ve all heard the stories. There’s the North Carolina man who was banned from AirBnB after denying a potential guest, a black female, and releasing a barrage of racial slurs against her. Then there’s the young black man who, after being denied lodging, requested the same property under a different name with pictures of white men in his profile and was accepted immediately. And there’s the young black woman who, after having tremendous difficulty securing an available property, shortened her name to something less “African-American sounding” and changed her profile picture to a cityscape instead of her likeness and has had no trouble booking since.

#AirBnBwhileblack

This hashtag has caught on like wild-fire among those who have experienced racial discrimination while attempting to use the accommodation-sharing site.

As a very active traveller for both work and personal vacations, I have used the website and accompanying app to find accommodations in…