If my customers are racist and I know they'd balk at working with people of a particular race, am I justified in refusing to hire employees of said race? After

If my customers are racist and I know they'd balk at working with people of a particular race, am I justified in refusing to hire employees of said race? After all I'm just giving customers what they need to get service. No, not at all. In fact, this rationale was a trope for racist practices around the world. Japanese bath houses would refuse service to foreigners claiming doing so would drive away japanese customers. White employers in the US would refuse to hire Black staff reasoning that customers wouldn't respect them. I read Ben Carson's memoir (I do not endorse his views, as a disclaimer) and in it he details an episode where a white patient refused to be treated by a black physician. His boss told the patient that she'd get the same excellent quality of care that she'd get from any other physician and wouldn't supply an alternative to Carson. As a Latin person, I'd feel perfectly comfortable with a Latin person refusing service from a Black, Asian, white, Jewish, or doctor what whatever category you pick. Also, as a member of a "marginalized" group I can say the Economist is spot on with the fact that class far more salient in real life than ethnic difference. There's plenty of Latin people that fit the image of a disadvantaged Latin immigrant, struggling to make ends meet. Certainly a greater proportion than whites, but there's plenty of us that aren't underprivileged compared to your average white person. The distinction between a poor Latin immigrant and an American born Latin tech worker like me is far, far greater than the difference between me and the average white tech worker and the poor Latin immigrant with, say, a poor Ukrainian refugee.