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Today, most Americans believe that it is unjust for private employers to discriminate against black job applicants. This was not always true. It was once widely assumed that employers could hire on whatever basis they wished. As a libertarian, Dee believes that employers should have the legal right to discriminate on the basis of race or sex (or the shape of the earlobe) if they wish. Whether you agree with Dee or not, she is raising a fundamental question that is usually ignored. If you believe that discrimination is unjust, ask yourself WHY it is unjust. If you believe that discrimination violates a basic moral right, how would you formulate and defend that right?

Joel Feinberg has argued that racial discrimination is an unjust basis for distributing income or wealth because one's race (like one's sex) is not a trait that one chooses or deserves. Since the individual is not responsible for these traits, Feinberg concludes that they cannot be the basis of "just discrimination." Other philosophers have argued that racial discrimination is unjust because it violates the rule that "equal cases should be treated equally." Since there are no relevant differences between blacks and whites, an employer that discriminates between them acts unjustly.

Others criticize these arguments. Feinberg's position seems to imply that racial discrimination would be justified if people could change their race easily. Is this an acceptable view? To answer, look for analogies. For example, is it just to discriminate in employment on the basis of religion because people can change their religious affiliation? Can you think of other difficult cases? A libertarian might argue that the "treat equal cases equally" rule tells us nothing about the justice of racial discrimination. If a store owner wishes to hire only white or black employees, then the fact that some job applicants are black and others are white becomes a relevant difference between them.