New Orleans: Mardi Gras Mess: Mardi Gras Mess

Barely a month after blacks and whites in New Orleans banded together to defeat former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke in the Louisiana Governor's race, the city's newfound unity has been shattered by a controversial antidiscrimination law. For more than a century, many of the elite Mardi Gras krewes, which organize colorful carnival balls and parades, have been white, all-male organizations. But in a unanimous decision last week, the city council ruled that any krewe that bars blacks, Jews or women could not only lose its parade permit but also face criminal penalties.

The law, proposed by city councilor Dorothy Mae Taylor, who is black, will not affect Mardi Gras until 1993, leaving the council committees time to review, and possibly revise, the penalties. The legislation "could kill Mardi Gras," warns Beau Bassich, a member of the Mardi Gras Coordinating Committee. Says Loyola professor Edward Renwick: "To bring up such a divisive issue so shortly after this election seems to blow the coalition asunder. We're right back to where we started. Taylor is the Grinch who stole Mardi Gras."