px_eliezer_ In terms of “free market”, I never understood why a restaurant would want to turn away Blacks, or for a hotel to turn away Blacks and Jews, but this was quite common.
The issue is proving the reason why the service was refused, which is difficult.
A business refusing service to someone based on race or religion is illegal under the Civil Rights Act, but unless the business admits that was the reason, they can usually still get away with it.
The law was really meant to prevent places from having an official policy like “no black people allowed”.
They could just not give any reason at all, and say they just don’t feel like it.
A restaurant in Virginia refused to serve Sarah Huckabee Sanders, which wasn’t illegal unless they said the reason was because she was a woman or something like that.
Generally, businesses can refuse service to anyone they feel like.