re: #97 Anymouse 🌹

The idea of Jim Crow was not so much that states or municipalities legislated against minorities in those areas.

It went more like this: There are three hotels in town. Two of those won’t accommodate African-Americans, and the other doesn’t care about anything except whether you can pay.

A disinterested free market would seem to indicate the hotel which accepts all comers who can pay would have a business advantage against the other two who lock out some potential customers over skin colour.

Economic models don’t really account for things like bigotry though. The reality of the situation is the other two hotels put out loud and proud they don’t let “those kind” in their establishments, and imply that the other hotel is somehow creating immorality or other codswallop, based in their own bigotry.

The free market, playing on bigotry, sinks the hotel that is willing to do business with everyone.

Repeat that across Dixie (and some northern areas), and you have de facto apartheid. For that reason Negro Motorist Green Book was created, so African-American travelers could find accommodations, restaurants, gasoline stations, &c which would serve them.

Sadly, the Green Book has been resurrected on Facebook, because it is needed again.

Exactly so
In fact small towns aren’t free markets. Not enough competition in each sector

For free market principles to work there have to be enough small actors and none of them can have outsized influence by any means