Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the location of the property. It has been edited to reflect the correct location in Greenville, Mississippi.
(NEXSTAR) – Airbnb has removed a listing in Greenville, Mississippi, after a backlash over its advertisement as an “1830s slave cabin,” where slaves previously lived on a plantation.
The cabin sits next to a 9,000 square foot nine bedroom mansion, circa 1857, the Washington Post reports. According to screenshots of the now-deleted listing, the house was advertised as “the last remaining pre-war mansion” in the area.
The cabin, known as the Panther Burn Cabin, has been renovated into a luxury getaway, according to the New Orleans civil rights attorney. Wynton Yates. A TikTok video of Yates calling out the list has racked up more than 2 million views.
“The history of slavery in this country is constantly denied – and now it’s being mocked by turning it into a luxurious vacation spot,” Yates said in his original video. Airbnb deleted the post soon after.
“Properties that once housed slaves have no place on Airbnb,” Airbnb spokesperson Ben Breit said in a statement. “We apologize for any trauma or grief created by the presence of this listing, and others like it, and that we did not act sooner to resolve this issue.”
In an additional statement to The Washington Post, cabin owner Brad Hauser said he took possession of the property last month and “strongly opposes” the previous owner who advertised the cabin for this way. Hauser said the cabin was actually used as the plantation doctor’s office and never housed slaves, however, the previous owner chose to advertise.
Hauser said he only recently learned of the listing, which he called “crazy” and “insulting.”
“I’m not interested in making money from slavery,” Hauser said.
“I intend to do everything I can to right a terrible wrong and hopefully get the publicity back on Airbnb so The Belmont can contribute to the most urgent demand for truth in history not only of the South but of the whole nation,” Hauser said. in a report.
In one of his follow-up videos, Yates urges visit plantations that are preserved as museums and tell the horrors of slavery from the perspective of those who lived through it.
Airbnb said it is currently working to remove all listings advertised as slave quarters, in addition to developing new policies regarding properties with slavery ties.
The use of plantation properties has come under increasing scrutiny as some have become popular wedding and event venues – a much-criticized practice that has put pressure on wedding venues like Zola and The Knot for rmove posts romanticizing plantation weddings and aesthetic. In 2020, the stars Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have apologized for their wedding on a South Carolina plantation in 2012, saying, “What we saw at the time was a wedding location on Pinterest. What we saw next was a place built on a devastating tragedy.
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