Airbnb Responded After A TikToker Called Out A Former Slave Cabin Being Rented In Mississippi
"How is this okay in somebody's mind to rent this out?"
The TikToker showing the cabin. Right: The TikToker pointing out the cabin listing.
A man on TikTok called out a Mississippi Airbnb listing that was once a slave cabin, and his viewers were just as appalled as he was. The video was published on July 28 and swift action followed.
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Airbnb responded quickly by taking down the listing and apologized in a statement obtained by USA Today. The creator behind the viral videos, Wynton Yates posted an update shortly after the company removed the property from its website.
The Greenville listing was titled as "Panther Burn Cottage @ Belmont Plantation" and Yates said the cabin rental description barred no-holds either.
"This particular structure, the Panther Burn Cabin, is an 1830s slave cabin from the extant Panther Burn Plantation to the south of Belmont," the listing overview read.
@lawyerwynton #airbnb this is not ok. #history #civilrights #americanhistory
Yates spoke in disbelief that not only was it listed as a Bed & Breakfast, but the 60-plus reviewers who stayed there called the place "highly recommended" and "memorable". He went on to describe how the guests viewed this "sharecropper cabin" as a tourist attraction.
The post received over 2.6 million views and a number of those who saw it weren't happy.
"My jaw literally dropped," said one user. Another questioned how people could sleep there and "not feel the pain in that room".
"Properties that formerly housed the enslaved have no place on Airbnb. We apologize for any trauma or grief created by the presence of this listing, and others like it, and that we did not act sooner to address this issue," said Airbnb in their statement.
The property was renovated with tiles, lighting fixtures, fresh towels, a dresser, and running water, according to Yates. He said that it presented an inaccurate portrayal of the kind of lives the victims of slavery were forced to experience there.
Yates concluded by saying that the Airbnb Superhost's decision to convert this edifice of slavery into a luxurious property is a denial of history to its sufferers.