An Airbnb listing has apparently been removed after a black guest revealed the ‘genuinely insane’ décor inside.
Erica W., who is on TikTok as @tasteofmelanin, posted a video from the southern home that she was staying at last week, showing decorations that included cotton bouquets, cotton branches and cotton wreaths hanging on a wall with plush monkeys dangling down.
She wrote that it was ‘Southern Airbnb core’ in the video that has since been viewed more than 2.2million times, and has garnered more than 5,000 comments as other TikTokkers express their exasperation at the racist décor.
‘Not the Get Out sequel set up,’ one user commented.
An Airbnb guest shared some of the apparently racist décor from the house she was staying at
The décor harkens back to the days of slavery, when millions of enslaved black people were forced to pick cotton on Southern plantations.
According to the National Parks Service, about 1.8million of the nation’s 3.2million enslaved people were growing and picking cotton by 1850.
Ten years later, enslaved labor produced over 2billion pounds of cotton each year.
In Virginia – where the Airbnb was apparently located, based on a map depicted inside – 550,000 enslaved black people constituted one-third of the state’s population by 1860, according to the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.
The majority of the inhabitants in some of Virginia’s eastern counties were even held in bondage, and the state later joined the Confederate States of America in the Civil War.
Erica W., who is on TikTok as @tasteofmelanin, said Airbnb told her they removed the listing
At around the same time period, many Americans believed in the idea of polygenesis – the separate origin for the races, which they felt made white people more superior, The Conversation reports.
In their 1854 Types of Mankind, leading scientists of the day, Josiah C. Nott and George R Gliddon, documented what they saw as objective racial hierarchies with illustrations comparing blacks to chimps, gorillas and orangutans.
The imagery of monkeys hanging from the cotton branches can also be seen as racist, as black people have long been compared to apes.
The decorations included stuffed monkeys hanging from cotton branches
The imagery harkens back to the days of slavery, when slaves were forced to pick cotton
Many TikTok users could not believe the setup at the Airbnb.
‘THE MONKEYS ONTHE COTTON IS DIABOLICAL,’ one user commented on her video.
Others suggested the homeowners knew they were renting out the house to a black tenant.
‘Nah, this has to be intentional,’ one person commented, while another added: ‘They changed the decor JUST for you boo.’
‘They knew you was coming, because ain’t no way,’ a third wrote.
‘POV: They saw who booked the room.’
Some TikTokkers also urged Erica to report the listing to Airbnb.
‘Report to Airbnb IMMEDIATELY,’ one TikTokker wrote, while another said she should take pictures – calling the décor ‘genuinely insane.’
Another also said she should ‘definitely tell Airbnb, but be prepared for them to do nothing.
‘They have a notoriously heinous customer experience,’ @concernedcitizen_midwest wrote.
A third also said Erica was ‘too calm.
‘Take pictures, send [them] to Airbnb, report the property, post it on social media and leave that place immediately.’
Erica later commented on the video: ‘Update: Airbnb reached out and removed the listing.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Airbnb for comment.
