I know what everyone is saying here, but this one rubs me the wrong way. Why did they cancel the church program rathe than giving the discount to the inner city kids? I know all about private property but this just doesn’t seem like the right decision — it seems like cutting off you nose to spite your face. And like it or not, we’ve lived for a long time in a world where you can’t favor one religion or group over another. You can’t give Christians a discount over non-Christians in any business, just like you can’t give whites a discount over blacks. Once again, I understand and sympathize with the arguments that private businesses should be able to do what they want to do but we have not lived in that world for 40 or 50 years with anti-discrimination laws.
“Ladies pay no cover charge”
“Free ladies night”
...
I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure your interpretation of the Federal anti-discrimination laws is incorrect, for now.
You never know when those laws will sprout new penumbras and eminences, though.
It’s hard to say on either this one or the other one in the article where the guy gave a discount if you brought in your church bulletin. You couldn’t legally give a discount only to black people, but could you give a discount only to NAACP members? Couldn’t he make them private club members and give them special club pricing and make it a requirement of membership that they sign a document claiming membership in a church? Obviously not every form of special pricing for a certain group is considered discriminatory, a la ladies’ nights.