Capitalism and Racism... addendum

This article on the history of segregation on public transportation in the south by Thomas Sowell in Front Page Magazine illustrates the point I made in my "They Hate Poor People" post. Please read the article. It talks about how the capitalists (owners of the transportation system) actually faught against the segregation on transportation systems. Including willfully ignoring the laws. It was the government (in a sad state of affairs at the time) that forced the capitalists to enforce laws that the capitalists did not want to enforce because, to them, the "negroes" were their customers. Even in a time of ignorance that has mostly vanished today, the equality inherent in capitalism was present.

The article says, in part:

"Far from existing from time immemorial, as many have assumed, racially segregated seating in public transportation began in the South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

"Those who see government as the solution to social problems may be surprised to learn that it was government which created this problem. Many, if not most, municipal transit systems were privately owned in the 19th century and the private owners of these systems had no incentive to segregate the races.

"These owners may have been racists themselves but they were in business to make a profit -- and you don't make a profit by alienating a lot of your customers. There was not enough market demand for Jim Crow seating on municipal transit to bring it about."

Interesting...