Economy
Inside the New Partnership Between Airbnb and the NAACP
The NAACP would like to see more African Americans participating in the Airbnb rental market—is that a good thing?
In 2012, the NAACP lamented in its Opportunity and Diversity Report Card on the hotel industry that “African Americans are ... less likely to own, run, or provide goods and services to a lodging property, or be represented on the governing bodies of these corporations.”
Today, a partnership inked between Airbnb and the NAACP seems like a chance to reverse those racial misfortunes. While Airbnb doesn’t turn people into traditional hoteliers, it allows homeowners to run their homes like hotels. The NAACP has identified this as a positive thing for black communities, and under its partnership with Airbnb it hopes to accelerate African-American participation in the home-sharing network.