My fiance and I live in a relatively low-class area. This is not because we have no class, but because we don't have much money. (Har har.) Given that the area is populated largely by low-income people, there are a lot of establishments that are owned by or pander to people of various non-white ethnicities, mostly Latinos and Arabs.

My fiance went to go look for a new job yesterday becuase her current job is not assigning her many hours. She went to several convenience stores owned/run by Arabs (there are a lot of them near our apartment complex). None of them hired her; most said they weren't hiring, but one actually told her that he wouldn't hire white people.

The leftist dogma that only whites can be racist is a flat-out lie, of course. We all know this. But it is rare to actually encounter evidence on a personal level, so I was rather surprised.

I immediately began to wonder what might occur if I were to report the establishment to whatever government entity around here handles workplace discrimination. Would the store be shut down? Would the owner be fined? Or would nothing happen at all, since only whites can discriminate?

I'll never know--though the thought of getting the racist Arab in trouble does amuse me, I'd never actually attempt to make it happen, for two reasons. One is practical--it'd probably never happen anyway. But the other reason is tantamount, and that reason is that I believe in freedom.

Including the freedom to be racist.

We don't have Thoughtpolice here, and that's a good thing. In my view, if Joe Blow down the street or Ramesh Patel at his convenience store want to be racist, that's their business. As long as they're not actually violating anyone's rights, it's no one else's concern. There is no right to not be hated.

I detest Affirmative Action laws. I don't even really like Equal Opportunity Hiring laws. Why? Because I don't think the government should have any hand in how citizens live their lives or run their businesses (again, as long as no one's rights are being violated). If some guy wants to open a business and only hire one particular type of person, or exclude one particular type of person, let him. Capitalism may eventually shut him down because of his discriminatory policies all on its own. Not many people would be happy to patronize a place they know institutes racist hiring practices. And if no one buys anything from him, his business fails, and he's the one who suffers in the end. And if it doesn't actually matter and his business succeeds anyway? Great for him. Either way, no one's rights are violated.

"But what about the people he doesn't hire because of their race? What will they do?" you ask. Well, presumably, they'll go find a job somewhere else. If they have the merits and the willingness to work, they'll find something.

Freedom means dealing with people who will have different views from your own. It's a small price to pay, in my opinion--the alternative much worse. Sure, no one would ever be offended, but no one would be allowed to think for themselves, either.