Hi professor.
The student is absolutely correct that in a free country, a man, or a group of men, should have the freedom to associate with whom they wish, to do business by choice, rather than through coercion.
That laws have been passed in America mandating otherwise (Civil Rights Act) is not cause for celebration, but for sorrow. Not because a correction was made, but because a correction was necessary. Our founding fathers knew well, and stated on more than one occasion, that a free country could not last without a virtuous people. It turned out that we lacked virtue in race relations, therefore we lost the freedom to relate racially as we pleased.
The irony in all this is that current civil rights advocates continue to press for legislation that will relieve the individual of responsibility for his own life while giving that responsibility to the government. As American individuals become accostomed to less and less responsibility, they will inevitibly become less responsible, and the state will be required to take an ever greater share of responsibility for everyone’s lives. Eventually our freedom will disappear altogether from this mechanism alone.
Of course, this doesn’t even take into account that leftist political philosophy, which is championed by an entire political party, the Democrats, gives responsibility for our lives to the state by design.
If the government had been race-neutral, rather than segregationist, I think people would have demonstrated much more virtue than they were allowed. People like Jackie Robinson and Duke Ellington didn't make it to the top because of forced-association laws. Indeed, had such laws been in place they probably would have been relegated to token roles instead of becoming the stars they were.