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We begin with intuitions about racial discrimination. Most Americans consider it morally repulsive. But trying to understand the morality of discrimination forces us to develop a moral theory into which we can place it. One approach is to stress the concept of moral rights. If we take this approach, we need to develop a theory of human rights, a theory of property, and a theory of government. What rights do people have? What is the basis of those rights? What is the moral basis and what are the moral limits of property? What is the relation of rights to other moral concerns such as the distribution of income or the satisfaction of basic human needs? When is government justified in restricting property rights?

Trying to fit racial discrimination and rules against it into a moral theory can be complicated. You need to think about several closely related questions:

• Does racial discrimination (e.g., in hiring or admissions to schools) violate anyone's moral rights? If so, what right does it violate? What are the grounds of such a right?
• What is the basis and scope of private property rights? Do property rights include the right to discriminate on the basis of race?
• If private property rights do include the right to discriminate, under what circumstances would we be justified in restricting those rights for the sake of other moral concerns?