Calamari? Just a fancy name for squid. Escargot? Snails …you know, those things that keep the slime off your aquarium. Rocky Mountain Oysters? Just a fancy name for … trust me, you don't want to know, nor would a sane person actually want to eat one.

Affirmative action? That's just a politically correct way to say "racial discrimination."

So now we're into great national debate on affirmative action. It would be a lot more fun if they didn't automatically brand you a racist if you oppose this form of racial discrimination.

President Bush has weighed in on the side of white plaintiffs who filed suit over an affirmative action plan at the University of Michigan. In a nutshell, Michigan had a scoring system to rate applicants for the freshman class. If you happen to be black you get an extra 20 points. Those 20 points are added to your score if you grew up in the projects, and they're added to your score if you're the only son of a multi-millionaire black insurance executive. Black skin = 20 points. Simple as that.

The University of Michigan is a government institution and is heavily subsidized by taxpayers. Our constitutional and legal heritage dictates that all people be treated equally under the law. This means that blacks and whites should stand with equal status, equal advantages and equal disadvantages before government. This was not the case at Michigan. Hence the lawsuit.

If you're not into hunting or cock fighting, despair not. I think I may have a good blood sport that might, as they say, float your boat. It's rather fun, really. Just try to get a liberal to admit that affirmative action is, in fact, a system of state-sponsored discrimination based on race. They know it's so. They know that you know that it's so, and they know that you know that they know that it's so. But stand firm they will, firmly defending that which they claim to oppose – the evil of racial discrimination.

Reasons? Excuses? You bet. There is no shortage of reasons and excuses for affirmative discrimination. Some good, some bad. But before you start throwing those excuses around, read that little section of our Constitution – the supreme law of the land – one more time. Try the 15th Amendment. "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Abridged? One definition is "to deprive." Got that? OK, now follow me just a bit further here. Before the question of race is applied to the admissions applications at Michigan, each prospective student has a certain score. That grade is based on factors like high-school grades and test scores that have nothing to do with race and everything to do with character, hard work and good decision-making skills. The act of adding 20 points to these scores solely because the applicant is black can be equated to deducting 20 points from certain scores because those students happen to be white. The end result is that you are handicapping a certain group of students because of their race. You are depriving them of points they otherwise earned because of their race. The 15th Amendment says that's a no-no.

Diversity? Yeah, I know that's the excuse the folks at Michigan used. They're just trying to create a diverse student body for the benefits of all students. Tell me, just how does the racial makeup of a classroom change the laws of physics or thermodynamics? Does diversity, or the lack thereof, alter the rules of English grammar or the principles of accounting? Diversity is not a legitimate reason for racial discrimination. Remember: At the core of the diversity movement is the premise that it is group identity that counts, not individual identity. You are to be judged by your group identity, not by your individual character. In this sense, affirmative action can be said to be another weapon in the leftist war against the concept of the individual. No wonder they defend it so stubbornly.

Know this: People never willingly surrender a privilege granted by government. Never. No matter what happens with race relations in the future of our Republic, there will never be a time when black civil-rights leaders will boldly step forward to proclaim: "Hey, we're doing just dandy, thank you. So we really don't need these forced advantages anymore. We think it's time to end affirmative action." If affirmative action lasted 50 more years, there would still be howls of outrage and protest marches if a politician came forth to propose an end to it.

It's time to get back to some basic constitutional principles. Punish discrimination where it is found, and judge people as you find them – by their character, their achievement and their willingness to work hard and persevere, not their skin color. After all, didn't we just celebrate the birthday of a great man who preached just that?