There is no place for racism and gender discrimination in a free market

I think the thing that I love most about "libertarianism" or "anarcho-capitalism" or "Austrian economics" is the emphasis on the individual. Not only the idea of individual rights but fact that it isn't your race or your country or the group of people you associate yourself with that makes you great;its you! The idea that market judges you solely on your merits. In a free market there no need to force companies to hire a set number of a certain group of people. The market naturally presents incentives for companies to hire the best person, despite his or her race. The Wall Street Journal reported that a group of big corporations such as American Airlines, DuPont, and General Mills has just agreed to spend $30 million to hire minority- and women-owned law firms as outside counsel. Are these large companies doing this because of some kind of government incentive? No actually, its due to the fact that "hiring minority- and women-owned firms, whose billable rates don’t always match up with the white male-owned top Big Law shops, might yield cost savings. This makes moral sense, and it makes business sense. Many of these firms are noted for their creativity, resourcefulness and cost-effectiveness.” They hired these firms with the belief that they can do the work more efficiently then other firms. Liberal and other people that push for things such as affirmative action sell themselves as being these great open-minded defenders of minorities while acting as if things were left to the free market that only white males would be hired. In reality liberals are the ones putting emphasis on race not the free market. In fact liberals at times treat minorities as if they were children that need their helping hand through this scary racist world. I truly believe that any individual has the opportunity in this country to become successful. Businesses in a free market have nothing to gain from excluding groups of people however the market does create punishment to those that are without the need of laws. The market punishes through the lose of revenue that could have been earned by hiring the best person for the job or maybe a even greater punishment would be the lose of business due to bad PR. If I, like most people, knew that a company was blatantly racist I would make sure not to do business with that company. The more I learn about free market the more I am amazed at its ability to solve any problem. There will always be those people that judge groups unfairly but in this day and age the affect that they have on the world in extremely minimal and true believers in a free market have no concern for your race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.