This is one of the places where I have spoken favorably of federal intervention in civil rights disputes:
Stores in the South would frequently use as their excuse that if they catered to blacks, their businesses would suffer. Furthermore, even in the North, where there was no statutory segregation, residential segregation was rigidly enforced through restrictive covenants and practices like "steering", by which realtors tried to keep blacks away from white neighborhoods. After the firehoses and dogs were turned on good, church going marchers in places like Selma, and murderers went unpunished in Mississippi, the United States said "enough is enough", and disallowed discrimination in "public accomodations", like restaurants and hotels; invalidated restrictive covenants; and made practices like steering illegal. The outrage over the continuing injustice to citizens of African descent overrode scruples about private property rights, and led to a national commitment to integration....In the aftermath, groups like gays have tried to use the civil rights model forged for blacks, arguing that on- going discrimination rises to a level where the government should take positive steps to outlaw discrimination, even by private organizations like the Scouts. After that, it depends on how much people buy the analogy....
Message 10825383 |
