This, pretty much.
Flat adverts that may be breaking the law
- Thread starter danielanthony
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This, pretty much.
Fair enough, I just find it hard to reconcile the difference between discrimination in work/education/healthcare but not when it comes to finding a place to live. It personally wouldn't bother me if I shared a house with people of a different race but some cultural differences might make things difficult or interesting. Ultimately though you don't know until you give it a chance and excluding people like this means there is not the opportunity to find out.
And how do you know that someone with the same background as you wont be a complete **** anyway?
Man of Honour
I think it should, the problem being I don't see how it could be enforced.
Fair enough, I just find it hard to reconcile the difference between discrimination in work/education/healthcare but not when it comes to finding a place to live. It personally wouldn't bother me if I shared a house with people of a different race but some cultural differences might make things difficult or interesting. Ultimately though you don't know until you give it a chance and excluding people like this means there is not the opportunity to find out.
And how do you know that someone with the same background as you wont be a complete **** anyway?
I agree completely. Someone being of the same race as you is no guarantee that they'll be a suitable tenant, the same as them being of a different race is not an indication that they'll be a poor tenant. The same could be said for specifying tenants based on age, marital status or whether or not they own a dog, but that's how a lot of people think they can control the qualities of their tenants.
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Soldato
To be fair I wouldn't want some Asian living in my house lol.
"Female Housemates only" - Is this sexist?
Perhaps people looking for specific religious / cultural believe should just reword a little. No point conforming to not being racist, have someone totally indifferent to the culture and soon move out due to food smell or requiring a different fridge because they are non vegetarian.
That said, I've also need adverts that seek 'vegan/vegetarian housemates only', another discrimination? Or does it just stop enquiries by people who will obviously give their offer a miss anyway.
Perhaps people looking for specific religious / cultural believe should just reword a little. No point conforming to not being racist, have someone totally indifferent to the culture and soon move out due to food smell or requiring a different fridge because they are non vegetarian.
That said, I've also need adverts that seek 'vegan/vegetarian housemates only', another discrimination? Or does it just stop enquiries by people who will obviously give their offer a miss anyway.
Associate
Wasn't there some B&B that got into trouble over not allowing a gay couple to stay over religious beliefs. I know it's slightly different with it being a business, but it was still their home. I do think it should be up to the home owner who they have under their own roof though, and any money the Government spends on trying to enforce any law on this issue will just be a waste anyway, how could you enforce something like this.
Absolutely, I'd not really care about the race of a housemate, but cultural differences as an example could cause real problems, especially when it comes to preparing food in the kitchen, having drink in the house and friends around for a beer and so on.
I can also see that if the tenant didn't speak my primary language well and had friends/family visiting, all speaking a language I didn't understand, I'd find that highly annoying too.
To live with someone you need a decent amount of common ground, otherwise everything turns to **** very quickly. Even seemingly innocuous habits can cause real problems further down the line, so I can imagine bigger differences such as religious and cultural ones could be problematic to say the least.
May I ask why?
I ask because much as I agree with the sentiment, to force people to restrict their choices of how to live their personal lives is surely to encroach on that other great bastion of modern society - the right to freedom of speech and to live your life as you wish as long as you don't harm others.
I don't particularly agree with the landlords' views on race, but in this case, to suppress those views would be taking away their freedom to choose who they live with or who inhabits their own property.
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Soldato
don't see a problem with this for flat/house sharing, its completely personal preference who you share with in this case because at the end of the day you have to live with that person (I for example hated sharing with a vegan because he stood against everything I believe in - i.e the eating of delicious steak)
its always at the discretion of the sharer who they share with, no matter their small mindedness, at least its upfront in this way
it would be discrimination in the case of a landlord renting out a whole flat or house to a person based on any of these things
its always at the discretion of the sharer who they share with, no matter their small mindedness, at least its upfront in this way
it would be discrimination in the case of a landlord renting out a whole flat or house to a person based on any of these things
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Soldato
I'm sorry, but the augment to allow it all (with people refusing custom as a penalty) holds no water.No, I don't think outlawing racism makes people less racist. It would, however, be a step forward in freedom.
Their workers could still leave. What are the chances that their board of directors are all white supremacists?What motivation is there to do damage your company's image like that?
What if in a racist area, a single black family moves in - from a financial point of view the local businesses would have no reason to do business with them - additionally the population of the minority would be too small for it to be worth somebody opening a new business to cater for them.
It's a short sighted "libertarian" point of view, with little thought of the complexity of the situation.
I do agree that people will filter through alternative means, but I don't think it should be legal to advertise for a business with clear racism.
As stated, saying "Asians only" is racist, what if a person lives in an area in which most of the people are Asian?, is it fair they are pushed into expensive accommodation further out due to the racism of the locals?.
House sharing isn't the same as a personal relationship, neither is it "letting a friend crash" - it's a clear cut financial transaction, in this environment it's nothing but racial discrimination.
Money is exchanging hands on a regular basis, between the primary renter & the house-sharers, or via a landlord.
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Where is this place where everyone finds racism aimed at the exact same people acceptable? And why on earth are they moving there?
How is forcing those disgustingly racist people to accept that one black family in their businesses going to help matters?
edit: Surely all these hypothetical racist people will boycott businesses that allow blacks? How do they even get sold the house? It's either a racist leaving or a nice family leaving, both of which wouldn't do business with them, surely?
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I don't entirely agree with your view that this is clear cut racism.
We don't know for sure, but I doubt that the landlords in question are excluding certain races simply because they are of a certain race; I think it's more likely that they are excluding them because of the potential cultural differences they wish to avoid integrating with.
A bit like the age example. You don't state "no under 55's" because you just don't like people under 55 years old. You state it because you want to encourage a more mature type of tenant that that statement would typically attract.
Who really gives a ****!
I'm not offended in the slightest, it's totally upto the owner who they want to live there.
If only the same common sense can be applied to people of all races when ti comes to thinks like this. People seem to want to find the smallest reason to get offended now.
I'm not offended in the slightest, it's totally upto the owner who they want to live there.
If only the same common sense can be applied to people of all races when ti comes to thinks like this. People seem to want to find the smallest reason to get offended now.
I thought being racist was believing one race is superior to another. I don't see how that's racist. Seems like a preference to me.
It's like saying you prefer the look of white women over black women. That's not racist, it's a preference just like you prefer blondes over brunettes etc.
Wanting white english in your home could very well be because the landlord is a racist, but you cannot automatically assume that their reasoning is because they are.
It's like saying you prefer the look of white women over black women. That's not racist, it's a preference just like you prefer blondes over brunettes etc.
Wanting white english in your home could very well be because the landlord is a racist, but you cannot automatically assume that their reasoning is because they are.
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Soldato
Well, it depends on how you view the term racist.
I'm push to see how it doesn't fit this pretty basic criteria (wiki).
Racism is behavior or beliefs motivated by racial stereotypes, it generally includes practices of racial discrimination, and ideologies of racial supremacy and hierarchy.
Some sources emphasize that racism involves the belief that different racial groups are characterized by intrinsic characteristics or abilities and that some such groups are therefore naturally superior to others, or follow practices that discriminate against members of particular racial groups, for example by perpetuating unequal access to resources between groups.
Then would it not be easy to say, "mature tenant wanted" (in regards to behaviour) as opposed to partaking in age discrimination?.
Regardless of the motivation, specifying a criteria which excludes an entire social group based entirely on skin colour is racism.
Thinking one race is superior to another is in one form, but it's not the only indicator.
Denying one person which you allow another (based purely off race) is also.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think it can be enforced & I'm certain they will continue to do it by changing the language used if it was cracked down on, neither do I believe it's something the government can fix.
My point is, it's racism no matter how you spin it.
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Soldato
If you can give me a single example as to why somebody would only want a white person to live with them, which isn't based on some form of racism I'll be interested to hear it.