Airbnb's Anti-Racism Experiment in Oregon

[Ron Brady]

Airbnb has announced a two-year pilot program in Oregon that eliminates guest names and photos from host screening as a way to see if it combats illegal anti-black discrimination.  

Airbnb to limit use of travelers' names as an anti-racism experiment in Oregon (nbcnews.com)

As we see it, given the strong sociological and psychological research base on what appears to be bias against certain names, kudos to Airbnb!  As a field, too many in real estate for too long have had a less-than-a-stellar track record on discrimination and thus we think it is a good thing for a major player like Airbnb giving this a go. We look forward to seeing what we as a field can learn and thus what tools real estate owners may be able to use more broadly. We love it when a major company decides it wants to be proactive about ensuring that anti-discrimination laws are followed.