Reader Comment of the Day

Bob Jones University lost their tax exemptbecause they enforced a ban on interacial dating. They like many fundamentalists believe in a literal interpretation of the bible, and relied on it to justify the ban. Reduced to a simple level,they believed in separating the races in a particular social context and for that, lost their exemption.

Yet there seems to be no difficulty with Black and White Masons remaining seperated along clearly defined race lines.

But which organization would an Asian, Hispanic, or other non-black minority join ? Would they even be allowed to join at all?

Others using subtle measures enforced segregation for years after the Civil Rights Act was passed. If the Masons were found to be using the same techniques, would they lose their tax exemption? Social organizations are often ideal locations for finding business opportunities. Defacto segregation by the organization as a whole or individuals within ensures that some will not have the same opportunity as others. That was one argument used to force many male only clubs to open their doors to women. Is the argument still valid, or have the rules changed ?

david korkia of MD 2:56PM April 17, 2009