The Belmont Plantation property in Mississippi (USA) sparked an outcry over a vacation rental ad posted on Airbnb, reports Fortune this Wednesday. The author of the ad offered vacationers to stay in a cabin, where plantation slaves were once relegated, around 1830.
Several people have stayed at this Airbnb rental, deeming it “cool”, “stylish”, and “delicious”.
“How is this acceptable? »
Attorney Wynton Yates disagreed. “How is it acceptable in someone’s mind to rent a place where human beings have been kept as slaves, to rent this as a guesthouse? “, he protested in a video. Before quipping: “Maybe you think this will give people a glimpse of how slaves had to live – not at all…”
And for good reason, the rental has running water, electricity, a large bathtub and pleasant decoration.
A public apology from Airbnb
Lawyer Wynton Yates’ plea, demanding that the ad be removed from the Airbnb website, resonated with many Internet users. Faced with the wave of protests, the private vacation rental business declared its immediate deletion. “We apologize for any trauma or grief created by the presence of this announcement,” the Airbnb spokesperson said publicly. We are working with experts to develop new policies, which address properties associated with slavery.”
As for the current owner of Belmont Plantation, present for three weeks, he assured not to be aware of the presence of this announcement online and attributed it to the previous occupant of the premises.