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That's why you have to be picky and careful when you decide to rent to someone you don't know. You don't want to be accused of something that's 'obvious' to som

That's why you have to be picky and careful when you decide to rent to someone you don't know. You don't want to be accused of something that's 'obvious' to someone, but is not necessarily the truth. So you naturally prefer people you know and can understand and rule out potential troublemakers early - sorry... And if you have 30 candidates to choose from, well, you know the answer - everyone has some preferences and will use them for making a choice. I'm not very surprised Germans have a preference for young single men of their own nationality with high paid jobs. That's still quite far away from being racist imho - this is just maximizing chances for a trouble-free, decent income.

rmc 12y ago
Just because you'd prefer to rent to people of the same nationality, doesn't mean it's legal. (likewise for age/sex). In your opinon that's not racist. In the law's opinion that is racist, and you can be convicted/fined for it. You're quite free to believe it's not racist, and that the sky is purple, but the law has different ideas and will act accordingly.
- lafar6502 12y ago
  Law doesn't have an opinion. People have opinions. And you have an opinion that I'm a racist. You can have any opinion, but to 'act accordingly' you'd have to prove your claims - and you don't have anything actionable but your own speculations. You don't even know if its true or not, but you're already making accusations. BTW I can't really imagine how I could be convicted for thoughts or beliefs - only actions are punishable AFAIK. Or not? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Police http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Police PS a little thought experiment: you're renting an appartment and two people show up - one white and one black, with similar income, jobs and credit history. You have to pick one, so how can you prove your decision was not racist?
  - rmc 12y ago
    I can't really imagine how I could be convicted for thoughts or beliefs - only actions are punishable AFAIK. Or not? Numerous laws will look at an action and your thoughts to decide what crime you were convicted of (e.g. murder vs manslaughter, theft, intent to commit $CRIME, etc.) You have to pick one, so how can you prove your decision was not racist? Cripes, simple examples like that aren't what anti-racism laws are for. It's when 10 black people turn up and the landlord tells them the apartment is gone, but it isn't.

rmc 12y ago

Just because you'd prefer to rent to people of the same nationality, doesn't mean it's legal. (likewise for age/sex). In your opinon that's not racist. In the law's opinion that is racist, and you can be convicted/fined for it. You're quite free to believe it's not racist, and that the sky is purple, but the law has different ideas and will act accordingly.

lafar6502 12y ago
Law doesn't have an opinion. People have opinions. And you have an opinion that I'm a racist. You can have any opinion, but to 'act accordingly' you'd have to prove your claims - and you don't have anything actionable but your own speculations. You don't even know if its true or not, but you're already making accusations. BTW I can't really imagine how I could be convicted for thoughts or beliefs - only actions are punishable AFAIK. Or not? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Police http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Police PS a little thought experiment: you're renting an appartment and two people show up - one white and one black, with similar income, jobs and credit history. You have to pick one, so how can you prove your decision was not racist?
- rmc 12y ago
  I can't really imagine how I could be convicted for thoughts or beliefs - only actions are punishable AFAIK. Or not? Numerous laws will look at an action and your thoughts to decide what crime you were convicted of (e.g. murder vs manslaughter, theft, intent to commit $CRIME, etc.) You have to pick one, so how can you prove your decision was not racist? Cripes, simple examples like that aren't what anti-racism laws are for. It's when 10 black people turn up and the landlord tells them the apartment is gone, but it isn't.