The AskPhilosophers logo.

Ethics

Do people have a right to be racist? I argue that people don't. They have a legal ability to be racist but not a right because a right implies that you are in some fundamental way their is justification to be racist and that's just not true when it comes to racism. Am I right? Am I almost right?
Accepted:
July 15, 2011

Comments

Thomas Pogge
July 16, 2011 (changed July 16, 2011) Permalink

Your position is that it is -- and probably also that it should be -- legally permissible to be racist but that this is not morally permissible. I think most people in contemporary democracies (myself included) would agree with this. But they would typically understand the phrase "people have a right to be racist" in the sense of legal permissibility and would then disagree with your denial of it. Once its clear what they mean by affirming the phrase -- namely that it is and should be legally permissible to be racist -- then you would have no objection.

  • Log in to post comments
Source URL: https://askphilosophers.org/question/4173
© 2005-2025 AskPhilosophers.org