What is the Libertarian position on anti-discrimination laws?
Libertarians would remove all laws against acts of racial and other discrimination. They believe, for instance, that a store owner should be able to refuse to serve all black people because he doesn’t like them. They often claim that the “free market” would remove racism, since it is unprofitable to turn away customers. No doubt proto-Libertarians in the American South of the 60’s were strong supporters of the segregationists against the civil rights movement, since the civil rights movement used Federal law in an overbearing, “statist” way. Also, Libertarians are fond of claiming that everything was wonderful in terms of individual rights in the US back in the days of the Founders, or 100 years ago, or some such. When it is pointed out that things were not so wonderful for black people or women, they tend to shrug this off. Non-whites and women apparently don’t count for much to Libertarians, as the Party is overwhelmingly composed of white males.
