No matter what politically correct euphemism is given to it, discrimination is discrimination. To ignore a person’s qualifications, ability and merit and to give preferential treatment to someone else based on the color of their skin, gender or other irrelevant, arbitrary criteria is just plain wrong. Whether it is Lester Maddox defending a separate-but-equal policy or the Royal Kennedy family’s support of affirmative action, it is all just rationalizing intentionally unfair treatment of certain citizens.

When government sanctions discrimination, it gives its official approval to treat some of its citizens in an unfair manner.

This encourages the beneficiary of the discrimination to believe that to succeed they must depend on the intervention of the government. It tells the victim of this politically sanctioned injustice that no matter how deserving of equal consideration you may be, the government will see to it that you are not allowed to perform too well.

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Although excellent performance and ability are not actually discouraged, they are not rewarded either. The effect of discrimination is to take personal initiative out of the success equation and to encourage everyone involved to put out less effort than if they were in a ruthlessly fair color/gender blind system.

Government sanctioned discrimination teaches our children that if government says so, some people are inherently better than other people. It also teaches our children that a person succeeds because government says that they are worthy of success, not because of their personal effort and ability.

Affirmative action is now operating under the law of diminishing returns. Any dubious benefits being gained by continuing such programs are being completely overshadowed by the fact it is teaching our children the same lesson that Adolf Hitler and George Norman Rockwell were teaching in the middle part of the century. Discrimination based on skin color, gender or other arbitrary criteria is good, as long as the right people are discriminated against.