ABSTRACT
A gay white man does not date black men because they are black (cf. Chapters 23, 30 and 31). Is this wrongful discrimination? What would a common-sense answer to this question be? One might be tempted to say ‘yes’ – this seems so much like typical cases of wrongful racial discrimination, such as a refusal to hire black people for employment, that it is difficult to see why it should not also be wrongful discrimination. One might also be tempted to say ‘no’ – wrongful discrimination does not apply to individuals acting in their private capacities. At face value, each of these conflicting answers has some ring of truth. What does the philosophical literature tell us in this case? These kinds of questions, what we can call questions about private discrimination, are seldom explicitly addressed in detail. 1
