White couple enters home, questions Black man as he moves into Airbnb

The couple tries to apologize, but it was the profiled Airbnb guest who called the experience 'real scary.'

A video of a white couple entering a home unannounced and questioning the presence of a Black man there is going viral on social media. 

The incident took place in Louisville, Kentucky, where a man was renting an Airbnb. 

The exchange starts off with the woman asking, “Do you live here?” 

“What do you mean do I live here?” he responded.

Read More: Florida couple say they faced discrimination in home appraisal due to wife’s race

The man then questioned the couple on why they walked into the home unannounced. She tells him they felt that there was “suspicious” activity going on at the house, as people were coming in and out. 

The pair walked in through the home’s unlocked front door. 

Read More: PBS documentary ‘Driving While Black,’ chronicling racism on the road, premieres this week

“So you just walked into the house because you saw Black people?” he asked. “You profiled us.” 

The woman tries to explain that she knows the owner of the home, who is reportedly trying to sell the house. 

He then asks the couple how they would feel if a Black man was to walk into their house. “I’d feel scared,” the woman responds. 

Read More: A 5-point plan to addressing climate change and protecting the planet

The couple tries to apologize, but it was the Airbnb guest who said the experience was “real scary.” 

The man explains to the couple that the home was listed on Airbnb and that he’d rented the property. The white man in the video, who appears to be the woman’s husband, said the owners had not told them that the house was listed on the home renting site. 

Read More: Woman in her 30s died from COVID-19 on airplane

“If you saw somebody walk into a house that was empty, you would do the same thing, but you want to pull the race card with us,” the husband said, before telling the man to “Stop it with the ‘Black man’ stuff.” 

A version of the video circulating on Twitter has called the incident racism and questioned what other scenarios could have occurred, including a police call, had either party been armed. 

Neither the man nor the couple have been identified as of press time.

“You’re suspicious and supposedly know the owners of the house but instead of calling them to ask what’s going on with the house, you feel like it’s ok for you to just walk in and interrogate the people about their presence. Stop the nonsense!” One Twitter user wrote

That this incident took place in Louisville adds to the irony. It was in that city where 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in March when police entered her home with a no-knock warrant. 

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s “Dear Culture” podcast? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku. Download theGrio.today!

SHARE THIS ARTICLE