by Larry Elder

About the author: Larry Elder is a writer, attorney, and host of the nationally syndicated radio program, The Larry Elder Show. He is also the author of Confronting Bias, Lies, and the Special Interests That Divide America.

Senator Trent Lott, in an ultimately failed effort to salvage his career as incoming Senate majority leader, appeared on BET [Black Entertainment Television] and announced his support for "affirmative action." Not only, said the senator, does he support affirmative action, but he also "practices it" by hiring minorities.

Lott's ill-advised remarks at Strom Thurmond's birthday party1 place the administration in an awkward position. The University of Michigan, in a case currently before the Supreme Court2 and about which the administration has yet to take a position,3 argues that its affirmative action program accomplishes...