So you think it was better when there were whites only drinking fountains and the woolworths lunch counter wouldn't serve blacks?
The thing is, Alan, it's never been your patronage that businesses didn't want.
So you think it was better when there were whites only drinking fountains and the woolworths lunch counter wouldn't serve blacks?
The thing is, Alan, it's never been your patronage that businesses didn't want.
Well, if each business made it crystal clear who they would and wouldn't serve, it would be easy on the rest of us to choose which business to patronize.
The store that won't serve certain religions and ethnicities? I won't be shopping there--not because I'm in their excluded groups necessarily, but because I don't agree with their business practices.
And that's what it will come down to--a hyper-conservative business will attract customers who believe in the same things, but will repel the majority of shoppers who believe otherwise.
You don't succeed long in business if you alienate the customers who drive that business.
No, you're making assumptions not based on evidence. I think it's terribly offensive to banish someone based upon something as trivial as race. What I do think is that none of us have the right not to be offended, especially if others have their freedoms curtailed in the advancement of that goal.Originally Posted by jp1
Really? Discrimination encompasses much more than race, think religion, nationality, gender and sexual orientation just to name a few. Are you sure I don't fit in there somewhere?The thing is, Alan, it's never been your patronage that businesses didn't want.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
So you're saying that you're not in favor of woolworths refusing to serve blacks but if the alternative is forcing woolworths, by law, to serve blacks you'd prefer the former?
True enough. Feel free to share with us how you're likely a potential victim of discrimination.
If you insist, I'm saying that market forces are preferable to the law. Our governments are designed to protect our freedoms, not infringe upon them, they either respect our freedoms of speech, expression, religion, association, etc., or they're not doing their job. In short, if I want to forbid anyone the services of my business I should be legally able to do so. If society decides not to patronize my business as a result, well I got what I deserved but at least I maintained my right to be stupid.
Your Woolworth's examples are past tense and limited to one specific race. I was pointing out that there were many other victims of discrimination, for example:True enough. Feel free to share with us how you're likely a potential victim of discrimination.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
I say we ban organized religion. Problem solved. After all, it's been a major cause of strife and bloody mayhem (not to mention unnecessary guilt) for thousands of years. Wishful thinking, of course.
What's the difference between my deeply-held conviction and your religious belief? Some ancient manual? I'm not buying it. And neither should the citizenry at large.
Of course they're past tense. Would they be past tense without the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Maybe. Maybe not.
Since you like current examples I'm surprised you didn't mention this one:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1..._n_769031.html
Similar to bae's investment group having to post their trades in order to have any credibility among the group, I'll go first. I'm a gay athiest. As a white male with a Christian family history I can pass for majority, at least on first inspection. I also happen to live in a liberal city where I doubt it's necessary to have laws in place to protect me. However, I'd frankly be somewhat nervous to move to certain parts of the country where my two minority statuses would be less accepted and where there are no anti-discrimination laws to protect me.
Don't we have laws because a lot people weren't happy with individuals expressing their own wishes and excluding others?
Seems like we might all have different notions of "freedom".
Bae and Alan........you seem to have a lot of faith in people making things work (and being "civilized") without any help/direction from the government.
Wouldn't that be like having a room full of young kids and letting them do whatever they wanted, without any input from parents?
To invoke the great Martin Luther King, whose day we are celebrating today, far too many religious congregations are what he called "social clubs with a thin veneer of religiosity." BUT, MLK used his religiosity and deep spirituality to dissolve discrimination non-violently, as Gandhi had done in India. MLK based his life on the New Testament; Gandhi lived his life by the Bhagavad Gita. So, Jane, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.I say we ban organized religion. Problem solved. After all, it's been a major cause of strife and bloody mayhem (not to mention unnecessary guilt
What's the difference between my deeply-held conviction and your religious belief? Some ancient manual? I'm not buying it. And neither should the citizenry at large.
And Krishnamurti said, “When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.”
If we didn't have religion to pick on, we'd still get to pick on gender, nationality and race. Then we'd pick on short people. If religion did its job, it would facilitate the removal of labels separating us, not the construction of them.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
Perhaps, but the government is not my parent and I hold adults to a higher standard than children.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
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