Airbnb—Harvard study found Black guests 16% less likely to be accepted than White guests with identical profiles
A 2016 Harvard Business School field study found that guests with 'distinctly African-American names are roughly 16% less likely to be accepted than identical guests with distinctively White names.' The #AirbnbWhileBlack movement documented widespread discrimination. Multiple lawsuits followed, including from Gregory Selden and three African American women in Oregon. Airbnb 2022 data showed the gap persisted: White users had 94.1% booking success while Black users had 91.4%. CEO Brian Chesky apologized and implemented Project Lighthouse and anti-discrimination measures, removing 1.3 million users who refused to sign a non-discrimination pledge.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algorithmic Fairness | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Racial Justice | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.089 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)× agency (incidental ×0.1)
Evidence (1 signal)
Harvard study found 16% lower acceptance rate for Black-sounding names on Airbnb
A 2016 Harvard Business School field study found that guests with 'distinctly African-American names are roughly 16% less likely to be accepted than identical guests with distinctively White names.' The study prompted the #AirbnbWhileBlack movement and multiple discrimination lawsuits. Airbnb's 2022 data showed the gap persisted: White users had 94.1% booking success while Black users had 91.4%.