(KNX) — Critics demanded answers from Airbnb this week after a viral TikTok video showcased a listing the owner described as an "1830s slave cabin." The company has since apologized and vowed to remove any other listings with references to slavery.
The TikTok, captioned "This is not OK," shows screenshots of the housing rental, which was listed as "The Panther Burn Cottage @ Belmont Plantation" in Greenville, Mississippi.
"This particular structure, the Panther Burn Cabin, is an 1830s slave cabin from the extant Panther Burn Plantation to the south of the Belmont. It has also been used as a tenant sharecroppers cabin and a medical office for local farmers and their families to visit the plantation doctor," a screenshot of the listing reads.
According to its website, the Belmont Plantation is the "last antebellum mansion along the river in the Mississippi Delta." A cached page of the website shows the listing said it was the "sharecroppers cottage at the back of the property; the most private space on the property & the only one with a TV."
The man who posted the TikTok, Wynton Yates, continues to show photos of the cabin, saying, "How is this OK in somebody's mind to rent this out? A place where human beings were kept as slaves, rent this out as a bed and breakfast?"
The listing had 4.97 out of 5 stars and 68 reviews, which the TikToker said was particularly notable. Photos of the cottage show a clawfoot tub, tile, and lighting fixtures. The listing also describes it as having "exquisite antique furnishings" and "turn down service." It also says the cabin is the "last surviving structure" from the Panther Burn Plantation.
Screenshots of reviews in the TikTok video show people saying it was a "memorable" stay. Another person said they "enjoyed everything about our stay" and that it "made for a perfect stop in our cross-country trek." This past March, one person said it was a "delightful place to step into history, southern hospitality, and stay a night or two."
"The history of slavery in this country is constantly denied," the TikTok user said. "Now it's being mocked by being turned into a luxurious vacation spot."
Airbnb told CBS News that "properties that formerly housed the enslaved have no place on Airbnb."
"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 address this issue."
The company said it has removed the listing and is removing other listings in the U.S. known to include former slave quarters. The company also said it's "working with experts" to create new policies that address properties that might otherwise be associated with slavery.
It was not clear how long the listing was live on Airbnb. However, the Tiktok page shows reviews dating back to August 2021.
Following Airbnb's apology, Yates posted another video with the apology from the property's owner, Brad Hauser, who said he had only owned the property for three weeks.
"I apologize for the decision to provide our guests a stay at 'the slave quarters' behind the 1857 antebellum home that is now a bed and breakfast. I also apologize for insulting African Americans whose ancestors were slaves," Hauser wrote.
He continued to say that he "strongly opposed" the previous owner marketing the building as a place where enslaved people resided and that the building was "never part of any plantation."
"I am not interested in making money off slavery," he said. "The plan is and has been to no longer advertise ... I will be providing guests a historically accurate portrayal of life when The Belmont was built and occupied by both the owners of the family home as well as the 80 or so slaves they purchased who had no control over their own lives."
According to Hauser, the original owner of the building told its previous owner Josh Cain, who listed the property on Airbnb, that it was not used as slave quarters and was not old enough to have housed enslaved people. Instead, the building was used as a doctor's office. State property records show that Joshua B. Cain was previously listed as the property owner.
"He also asked Cain to stop advertising it as a slave quarters when the building was acquired, he said. "Cain refused."
He also said he would find experts to provide more information about the property and hope to "right a terrible wrong."
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