Civil Rights Act, A Disgraceful Infringement On Private Property Rights

If you have ever had the misfortune to hear Sean Hannity speak, then you have probably heard him brag about how Republicans pushed the 1964 Civil Rights Act through Congress. The very fact that he would brag about this infringement on private property rights proves that he and many more like him are much more Republican than they are conservative.

I have never understood how a libertarian or a conservative could support such expansions of government as Title II and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Those two sections, Title VII in particular, have turned out to be a disaster of endless litigation and forced preferential treatment. The rest of the law is excellent. The federal government did indeed need to end segregation in public places and schools, and it most importantly needed to ensure that individuals were not disallowed to vote on the basis of race.

But how can you support a federal government that has the power to tell a property owner or an employer who he or she should do business with? The whole idea completely runs opposite of the concept of liberty. It is almost as if the government is telling the landlord or the small business owner, "even though you created this business with your brainpower and hard work, you don't really own it, we do". We all know that discriminating against people is wrong, but so is racism itself. We can't, nor should we try, to legislate everything. And we most certainly should not have a court ruling on a person's intent.

This suit against Walgreen's is a sham, but it exemplifies the stupidity of a law that was supposedly written with good intentions. These people did not get the jobs they wanted, and now they get to sue. You know, I just left a company because I was tired of working under people who were less qualified than me and less educated. I didn't get to sue. If I were black, they probably would have fallen all over themselves to keep me from filing with the EEOC.

The results of those two misguided provisions, in what was mostly a good law, have been horrible for this country. Title VII in particular has been a disaster of endless litigation. Companies promote people who may not be qualified because they are afraid of the government. There doesn't even have to be intent to discriminate in order to be sued.

At some point, somebody needs to have the courage to propose a reevaluation of this law and it's effects. I realize though, that courage is lacking in Washington these days.