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“In an experiment on Airbnb, we find that applications from guests with distinctively African-American names are 16% less likely to be accepted relative to identical guests with distinctively White names” (Edelman et al. 1).

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So, despite the fact that landlords lose an estimated $65-100 each time they reject a black guest, some still choose to deny them purely based on racial grounds. This is reminiscent of the restrictive neighborhood covenants of the mid 20th century, where even if it might've been more convenient or lucrative to sell a house to a black family, home owners had discriminatory language written into their deeds which prevented them from selling the house to non-whites. Although companies like Ebay have managed to implement pre-vetting systems into the buyer and seller agreement, proving an online market void of racial discrimination is possible, Airbnb is currently employing a business model that makes room for racial discrimination.

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In the 1930s, government surveyors graded neighborhoods across the country on a scale making green the best or most desirable to live in, and red the worst or least desirable.  One of the leading factors in determining which neighborhoods would be deemed red were the residents' racial demographics. Residents of these neighborhoods often had low credit, and were therefore constantly declined for mortgages and loans. Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 attempts to do away with redlining, or declining people in these neighborhoods loans on a discriminatory basis, fast forward 50 years and these red lined communities are still filled with marginalized minorities. In fact, in Macon, GA, which is the town depicted in the maps above, 73% of formerly redlined communities remain low income and 91% of its inhabitants are minorities. Because home ownership is the most important asset in terms of ascending the socioeconomic ladder, the practice of redlining enables a racial wealth gap, which can be suffocating for members of these redlined communities.

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In 2017, ProPublica experimented with Facebook's anti-discrimination checking system when approving real estate advertisements. They bought rental housing ads, and set a limit on the audience so that groups protected by the Fair Housing Act couldn't view them. These groups include blacks, Jews, Spanish speakers, and many others. Surprisingly or not, their ads were approved within minutes, This is a blatant violation of the Fair Housing Act on Facebook's behalf, and proves that racial discrimination in the real estate industry can and will take place into the foreseeable future unless serious action is taken.

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"Blacks continued exposure to differential treatment in retail settings calls into question the extent to which blacks are included in the ―consumer republic and whether they are entitled to and experience equally the right to shop. The contradiction between collectively expressed U.S. values and the perennial nature of anti-black sentiments in retail settings is one reason that it is important to investigate blacks‘ experiences with retail racism" (Pittman 165).

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In Cassi Pittman's doctoral dissertation, she outlines the profiling the black people have to deal with when they go shopping. Although for many shopping can be a leisure activity, African-Americans aren't as privileged in this regard when they are discriminated against by retail staff. So, because of this treatment, Pittman brings into question whether blacks are being excluded from the consumer republic, which is a crucial part of being an American and achieving financial success. Regardless, although there is little legal action that can be taken due to retail stores not being explicitly stated as a place of public accommodation under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the microaggressions that many blacks face every time they walk into a store in the USA is simply disgraceful.

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In the 21st Century, the narrative that Americans have reached anything close to social equality is simply not true. Despite legislation passed over 50 years ago, like the Civil Rights Act and Fair Housing Act, minorities are still being discriminated against in direct violation of these laws. This has proliferated with the growth of online markets and the anonymity that comes with the internet. So, the growth of a consumer economy and the development of online markets has had a negative effect on minorities, especially African Americans.