Discrimination and Rights (Dee Speaking)
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							Dee

Look. Suppose some employers discriminate against bald people or short people or atheists or people who wear leisure suits or white people with a southern accent. These things may not be very nice. In some cases they may be harmful. In the case of race I would strongly disapprove of any such discrimination. (And I also feel strongly that our government should not discriminate except where compensation is due.) But that's not the issue.

We are asking a very different question here. We are asking whether an employer violates the moral rights of black people if he or she refuses to hire them. I say he does not. I don't approve what he does, but I say he is within his rights to do it. Some libertarians have compared discrimination to burning the flag. They don't approve of burning the flag, but they agree that people have a right to do it.

And liberals are in a similar situation in the case of racist literature. Most of them would strongly disapprove of publishing and distributing really vile anti-semitic and anti-black literature, but they would agree that people have a right to do it.

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