On Martin Luther King Day, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin delivered his now famous "Chocolate City" speech. During the speech, he stated "it's time for us to rebuild New Orleans — the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. This city will be a majority African-American city."

There is truth to the controversial statement of New Orleans being "chocolate." According to the 2000 U.S. Census, New Orleans is a majority African-American city: 67.3 percent of its residents are black compared to 28.1 percent white, 3.1 percent Hispanic and 2.3 percent Asian. New Orleans' demographics are nearly the opposite of Louisiana's ethnic breakdown, which is 32.5 percent black and 63.9 percent white.

Mr. Nagin is right: New Orleans is in fact a "chocolate" city. Madison, by contrast, is a very "white" city: 84.0 percent white, 5.8 percent black, 5.8 percent Asian and 4.1 percent Hispanic. What would happen to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz if he declared Madison "a vanilla city?" That would be a career-ending speech for Mr. Cieslewicz, forever labeling himself a racist.

Consider what happened to U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., in December 2002. Sen. Lott suggested during Sen. Strom Thurmond's birthday party that the United States would have been better off if, in 1948, Sen. Thurmond — then running on a segregationist platform — won the presidential election. Sen. Lott was forced to step down as Senate Majority Leader due to his thoughtless comments.

Mr. Nagin currently is the leader of a city that is celebrated for its blues singers, Cajun cuisine, his own creole culture and being mecca for the New Year and Mardi Gras. People flock from all over the country and the world to take part in celebrations varying from the traditionally Catholic Fat Tuesday and huge jazz festivals to the gay Southern Decadence festival. Mr. Nagin leads a city that is incredibly diverse. He should celebrate its diversity and not point out one group that, while composing a majority of its residents, is only one part of what makes New Orleans so great.

In Madison, we know that diversity is a key foundation of our local culture. No one element is the reason that we gravitated to the University of Wisconsin and the city. Restaurants from all corners of the world, the Farmers Market, Badger football and the range of world-class academic talent are all only a few things that attracted us to live and study here. If our city and university leadership singled out one group or one element of our culture that made this city one of the best in the country, there would be outrage. Every element of life in Madison makes it so attractive to live here, just as thousands of Americans across the country flock to New Orleans because of its long and diverse history and culture.

Mr. Nagin did address other less controversial issues in his speech on Jan. 16, such as an end to black-on-black violence and rebuilding the black community in New Orleans. These contentious issues have plagued the city and do need to be addressed, especially considering the city's chaos and lawlessness in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Nagin has apologized since making his speech, but his comments are completely insensitive to the others who have contributed to New Orleans' society. Mr. Nagin does not understand what truly makes his city so great: its diversity. Despite his apology, he still should be held accountable for the controversial statements he made in this speech, as other politicians have in the past for insensitive remarks.

Diversity is what makes cities such as New Orleans and Madison so great. Intolerance and elevating one group's status over another were and still are chronic problems in our society. People such as Martin Luther King sacrificed their lives so that everyone can have an equal opportunity in our country. On the day celebrating Martin Luther King's struggle for equality, Mayor Ray Nagin inadvertently went against all of what Rev. King fought for during the Civil Rights Movement by calling New Orleans a "chocolate city." Diversity — whether chocolate, vanilla, or any other flavor — is what makes his city so special, and every group should have the opportunity to be a part of the rebuilding of New Orleans.

While New Orleans will never be the same, we can only hope the diverse character of New Orleans, which made the city so alluring in the past, is preserved in its future.

Jeff Carnes ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in linguistics.