Before bashing the medium-sized, Midwestern city that I am fortunate enough to call my adopted home, it’s necessary to point out that Madison has many good reasons to be proud of its progressive reputation. Aside from its long history of radical activism, the city today walks right near the front of the march toward progress. From its protection of the social services budget to drug reform efforts to its acceptance of leftist third parties, Madison isn’t a bad place for progressives to live — relatively speaking, at least

There is one conspicuous exception, however, and it is here that we come to the issue of race.

During my freshman orientation in July 2005, I was bewildered as to why we were told to prepare for a new life on a campus with people from all sorts of backgrounds — a lazy glance around the room revealed that, at least in one respect, quite the opposite was true. UW students may be diverse in many ways, but racially diverse we are not.

The same goes for the broader community. As a result, white supremacy has become so ubiquitous that it now seems to dwell comfortably in every alleyway and street corner, while minority political power is banished to the periphery. But perhaps the most disturbing thing is the way in which racism is able to conceal itself behind ostensibly innocent, race-neutral talking points.

Take the issue of crime — always among the weirdest and most common of Madison obsessions. Though all the statistics indicate that this city is among the safest of its size in the country, we are constantly being warned about faceless pickpockets and rapists hiding in the bushes of unlit streets. That theft and sexual assault is far more common at your average Saturday night revelry is apparently irrelevant to the hysteria-mongers — unless one considers the obvious racial connotations surrounding this discussion.

Ever since the infamous Willie Horton advertisement during the 1988 presidential campaign, crime has been inseparable from race, and consequently, fear of crime has been inseparable from fear of racial minorities. African-Americans in particular have faced the worst of this demonization in the form of racial profiling and obscene inequities in their dealings with the criminal justice system. In Dane County, black males are 33 times as likely as white males to be sent to jail — among the worst disparities in the country.

Similarly, the abuse that undocumented immigrants, almost entirely Latino, face in Madison is usually cloaked by such concerns as “law and order” and “protection of the borders.” Most sensible people probably find themselves baffled as to why so small a presence of migrant workers incites such vitriol, until the issue of race is considered. And, please, spare me the usual excuse: If the undocumented were from Canada or Sweden, this would be a non-issue.

Sheriff Dave Mahoney, a Democrat who was easily elected in 2006 with the support of the usual sellout liberals, has continued to report undocumented workers to federal authorities, often resulting in deportation. Madison is one of only a handful of identifiably progressive cities that is not part of the sanctuary city movement — that is, immigrants without the right paperwork are still subject to harassment from law enforcement. As long as this city is unable to engage racial issues in an honest way, this situation is unlikely to change.

On campus, things are not much different. Despite the best efforts of groups like the Multicultural Student Coalition, campus climate remains infected by various modes of white supremacy. Opposition to diversity efforts — from the editorial pages to classroom discussions — is rampant, while a select few are simply unable to get over the fact that the (nonwhite) senior class president stole a few overpriced bus tickets several months back. It’s really no wonder why so many qualified minority students refuse to even consider attending this campus.

It is important to note that many probably do buy into the superficial justifications for racially-motivated policies and causes. That is, there are many who actually do believe that crime is out of control, illegal immigration is a scourge against our great land and a minor crime of a student official is an important enough topic about which to pen an editorial. This does not change the fact that the underlying impulse that forces these issues to the surface is racial, and that an elimination of racism would mute such issues as crime and immigration.

Naturally, Madison’s race dilemma is not unique. Ours is part of a much broader social problem and dependent on the essential mystery that lies at the core of all forms of identity. The point is that a city which is left-of-center in almost every other way should — can — do better.

Kyle Szarzynski ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and Spanish.