(코리아타운뉴스) “No Asians!” Airbnb host denies service to Korean-American woman

Customer was notified about the cancellation on the day of the trip
Host offered no compensation for violating the regulation

A Korean-American woman was denied of her Airbnb booking after the host discovered that she was Asian. Airbnb announced its plans to prevent racial discrimination, but complaints from travelers who have been discriminated against have been constant throughout.

Dyne Suh, 23, initially made a booking for a cabin around Big Bear Lake to spend the Presidents’ Day Weekend with her fiancé and two other friends. Minutes before Suh’s arrival, she received a text message from the cabin’s host that the booking has been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation, bizarrely, was because she was “Asian.”

“I wouldn't rent to [you] if [you] were the last person on earth,” the host’s text message read. “One word says it all. Asian.”

It was clearly a racist message. The host is reportedly a Caucasian woman.
When Suh threatened that she will report the host to Airbnb for racist, the host responded: “Go ahead … It’s why we have trump. And I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.”

Ultimately, Suh had to turn back during a snowstorm to go back home. In an interview with local TV station KTLA, a tearful Suh said: “I don’t understand why she would react this way. I’ve lived in the U.S. since I was 3. This is my home. They said that the racism disappeared with the election of Obama as president. That is not the case. This hurts.”

Meanwhile, Airbnb issued a statement that racist hosts will simply not be tolerated. As controversy grew bigger, Airbnb deleted the beleaguered host’s listing. It then promised that racial, religious and sexual discriminations will never be tolerated.

Korean-Americans who was informed about Suh’s misfortunes were shocked.
“Trump’s supporters are seemingly opposing all Asian and Hispanic immigrants as the man himself is harping on deporting immigrants,” one Korean said. “Something like this is happening too often for it to be written off as a one-off incident.”


By Hyoungjae Kim