Review
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Ann and Malik stress that the harm done does not stop with the person directly affected. The children of a black person required to attend an inferior public school or kept in a low paying job are harmed in a variety of ways. They believe that this indirect harm deserves compensation.

Fred believes that appeals to indirect harm open up the door to uncontrolled --and hence unprincipled-- compensation. He also worries that people who did not do anything wrong will have to pay the cost of the compensation. Young whites have discriminated the least, but will bear the burden of compensation in the tough competition to enter good schools and get the best jobs.

Ann and Malik also believe that the beneficiaries of injustice can fairly be asked to pay some of the cost of compensating those who have been harmed. But Fred replies that the young white male in the job market has benefited far less than older whites who will not be losing jobs (or places in good schools) because of compensatory programs. Fred has also raised a general concern about the use of racial classifications. If we start classifying everyone by race, ethnic group, or sex in order to compensate for injustice, will it cause more harm than good? Ann and Malik believe that only by paying attention to race or color can be undo the harm that was originally done by discrimination.

Dee has presented herself as a libertarian. She has not said a great deal, but she has raised a fundamental question about rights: Should the property rights of private employers include the right to discriminate on the basis of race or color when they hire people? She considers discrimination morally repulsive, but she defends their right to do it. Therefore, she believes there is no need to make compensation for private discrimination. She agreed, however, that discrimination by government was unjust and that compensation for government action might be required. Ann objected to Dee's view of property. In her view, Dee's strong property rights would cause so much harm that they are unjustified. Arguments in their favor are overridden by other moral concerns.

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