Are most discrimination laws in the US no longer necessary?
The particular laws I am referring to are laws that require private individuals to hire or rent housing without discrimination. It doesn’t include publicly held corporations.
Many of the discrimination laws were created at a time when minorities did not have the means or ability to own property and businesses. Today there are many minority owned businesses and property owners.
Should private business or property owners be exempt from discrimination laws? Isn’t it a violation of the owners rights to conduct business? Isn’t there something fundamentally wrong with laws that tell people what to do with their own property? Why do some people’s rights mean more than the rights of others? Why is some discrimination allowed while other discrimination is not (senior citizen communities with minimum age limits)?
This is a hypothetical question so there isn’t any need to start with racist comments.
I think that a case can be made that discrimination laws should still be around.
The thing is, if a company does not wish to hire someone or rent out an apartment or home, they should make their decisions based on legitimate reasons. So, go ahead and check a person’s criminal history or credit report. If something shows-up, then that should be enough reason to refuse to hire or rent.
Believe it or not, I have been the victim of some mild discrimination in my past. My first name is Nick and I have had people think that I was Italian. And yes, there are folks out there that have their own bigoted ideas of what Italian men are like. (And no, I am not Italian.) But, I’ve been down that road. I also once had a man call me a "Jew" in a rather unpleasant way. (And no, I am not Jewish.) But, there are plenty of bigots in the world that would just love to make life harder yet for people they don’t like.
June 30th, 2010 at 6:07 am
I think that a case can be made that discrimination laws should still be around.
The thing is, if a company does not wish to hire someone or rent out an apartment or home, they should make their decisions based on legitimate reasons. So, go ahead and check a person’s criminal history or credit report. If something shows-up, then that should be enough reason to refuse to hire or rent.
Believe it or not, I have been the victim of some mild discrimination in my past. My first name is Nick and I have had people think that I was Italian. And yes, there are folks out there that have their own bigoted ideas of what Italian men are like. (And no, I am not Italian.) But, I’ve been down that road. I also once had a man call me a "Jew" in a rather unpleasant way. (And no, I am not Jewish.) But, there are plenty of bigots in the world that would just love to make life harder yet for people they don’t like.
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June 30th, 2010 at 6:17 am
It used to be business was racists , now it’s if you’re a white male you’d be the first to get fired ….or i can’t play the race card. This question is a tough one. I would like to think all here LEGALLY are considered American and race plays no part but unfortunatley it always will somewhere….SAY NO TO THE KKK, and La Raza,
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June 30th, 2010 at 6:36 am
No. So because minorities now own businesses, that makes it OK to discriminate against someone in jobs or housing?
If someone has a business that is open to the public, then they have to follow the laws regarding discrimination of the public.
Get a private club, get a private school, knock yourself out.
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June 30th, 2010 at 7:12 am
The discrimination laws are a bit pointless in any case.
Most people discriminate. You have too. When your in charge of a property, you want people their that will be as least amount of trouble for you. You want to avoid late night phone calls and crazy damage for example.
And a lot of minorities are just trouble by their way of life.
And it’s easy enough to get around the law, as long as you let that one in ten good minatory in.
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