Discrimination in the Consumer Marketplace: A Response to Harris,Henderson,and Williams

Abstract

The article is a critique of Harris, Henderson, and Williams's study that attempts to measure the amount of consumer racial profiling in the consumer retail environment. The author concludes that though the purpose of the study is worthwhile, the study's methodology, which was to review the results of 81 federal court cases, is flawed. The methodology fails to correlate the number of legal complaints with the number of actual incidents of discrimination, and it fails to recognize that allegations made in a lawsuit are not proof that discrimination has occurred. Despite these flaws, the author notes that the study highlights important questions for further study and debate.