I’m not much of an angry black man. I’m more of an optimistic, slightly skeptical black man. So maybe that’s why I’m having a hard time understanding why someone would call Madison an “unabashed haven for white supremacy.”

I refer, of course, to the headline over the column of my colleague, Kyle Szarzynski (in the Herald’s Sept. 11 edition). I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt — we columnists don’t get to choose our own headlines, and thus the headline was not of Kyle’s doing. But wow, really? Madison a haven for white supremacy? Maybe if you’re using population as a metric, but as far as the other outward signs of white supremacy go — to wit, burning crosses, lynch mobs, hooded men with strange titles, Confederate flags — Madison is, fortunately, lacking.

Kyle and crew, you need to cut UW-Madison’s ethnic population some slack. The state itself is hardly a melting pot as far as race goes, so how exactly can you expect its flagship university to be? And as far as the much maligned campus climate of racial subjugation and/or white supremacy, I have only one word: Huh?

Reading some of this stuff makes me wonder where in the world I have been attending college for the past four years.

“This article makes me hate white people even more,” penned anonymous online commenter “An Angry Black Man” in response to last week’s Herald editorial lambasting Senior Class President Oliver Delgado for his refusal to resign after stealing a number of Van Galder tickets. My hope is that the commenter is actually some schmuck trying to stir up trouble, wrapped in the security blanket of Internet anonymity — especially considering his use of the n-word. But it’s not uncommon to see this sort of sentiment echoed on campus. Certainly, it was echoed in Szarzynski’s column.

“Opposition to diversity efforts… 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…” quips Szarzynzki. While the average student probably doesn’t care about the numerous elected student positions on campus, much less what the senior class president does, those of us who do know and do care like to think that those students elected to such resume-padding positions are upright, outstanding, non Van-Galder ticket-stealing citizens.

The righteous outrage over Delgado’s refusal to step down after his theft has little to do with his race. His name could be Patrick O’Brian, Phillip Schumacher or Vikas Van Ryn — and have all of the ethnic implications that come with such names — and the result would be the same. Outrage. Calls for his resignation. Yawns.

And another thing — can we move past this? To think that a young man will have to answer to this Google-friendly non-fiasco in some future job interview pains me. Mr. Delgado screwed up, and he apologized. He has no intention of resigning. What should UW-Madison students do about this? Study.

Meanwhile, I’m all for the guy who has never made a mistake to take over his post.

In the four years I’ve been here, I have never had a professor, member of the university’s administration, teaching assistant, police officer or gas station attendant treat or approach me any differently than my fairer-skinned fellow students. I’ve had a few northern Wisconsin students fall on their faces in racial ignorance, but little in the way of hostility. I’ve been dealing with campus climate for four years now, and I’ve never called home in a fit of “Overexposure to White People” or “Minority Withdrawal” just to hear my black mother’s or father’s voice on the line to assure me that, yes, there are non-white people out there.

So, to the prospective UW-Madison student who happened to be Googling information about UW-Madison’s diversity campus climate, you have little to fear. If you are, however, unable to make friends with people who don’t have the same hair style, skin color or skill in Hacky Sack as you do, you may want to skip college altogether.

There are still challenges that relate to racial prejudice in this state, county and city. Look no further than who populates Wisconsin‘s prisons. The numbers are appalling and embarrassing but — and this may be hard to admit — they may also be revealing. I write this not as a dismissal of all the issues that minorities face in Wisconsin and Madison, but only to say that, as a minority student, I love this city, and feel completely comfortable at this university. The white supremacy boogeyman Kyle and his crew create for us may not be nonexistent, but it certainly isn’t as all-powerful in the City of Madison as they claim it is.

Gerald Cox ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in economics.