We hold this truth to be self-evident: The city we love dearly is fundamentally fucked up. This truth isn’t news to many folks, of course, though the depth of last week’s rage in the streets shocked even the most cynical among us. Even the very people who kept telling us that African Americans were mad as hell and weren’t going to take it anymore had to be shocked at the random violence downtown and in some city neighborhoods.
But that’s what happens when you can’t get anyone to listen. Sometimes you just explode.
What happens now in Cincinnati? Do we deal honestly with the problems and devise strong solutions? Or, like a relationship gone bad, do we walk away from each other?
It’s a damn shame it took a crisis — the police shooting of Timothy Thomas, the following days’ violence and the citywide curfew — to make us face these questions. If there’s any silver lining in the mayhem, it’s that everyone in Cincinnati is finally focused on the questions at the same time.
Where do we go from here? One thing’s for sure: Another blue-ribbon panel “studying” the problem of race relations in Cincinnati is a waste of time, effort, money and patience.
This is a time for action, and Cincinnati, for once, must embrace progressive thinking and bold changes. Several short-term and long-term opportunities present themselves:
· Improve the Cincinnati Police Division. Let’s be realistic about the police, if that’s possible in these emotionally charged times. Like any bureaucracy, the department is set up so officers follow their superiors’ lead, who follow their superiors’ lead, etc. If cops are killing black men with impunity, as many in the African-American community claim, there are two possible reasons — the actions are condoned by the officers’ superiors, or the superiors have no control over their officers. Neither is acceptable.
I’m not going to patronize the police by trying to explain how difficult a job cops have. We all know they put their asses and their lives on the line every day, and we all know (or should know) that the vast majority of cops are decent, hard-working Cincinnatians.
So why do the city’s leaders make officers jobs harder by constantly placing them in no-win situations?
During last fall’s TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) conference downtown, cops were used by local political and business leaders to quell peaceful demonstrations and stifle dissenting opinions.
By taking an aggressive stand against the anti-globalization protesters — clearly given the cue by city leaders intent on showing off Cincinnati as a “business friendly” town — the cops found themselves shooting beanbags and rubber bullets at law-abiding citizens and making more than 50 arrests.
Every person arrested who challenged the police’s actions in court has been acquitted or had his or her charges dropped, and several are now suing their arresting officers. And the cops’ bosses — who five months later are still trying to devise an “after action” report on TABD — go blameless.
After Roger Owensby died of asphyxiation while being apprehended by Cincinnati police and two officers were indicted for manslaughter, Fraternal Order of Police President Keith Fangman said cops didn’t know what the definition of assault was anymore. It was a stupid thing to say and was roundly criticized, but it did contain a grain of truth.
The bottom line: Cops need to know what their job is, what’s expected and not expected of them and where the boundaries of professional conduct are. They’re not getting that kind of direction now, and shit is happening. People are being wrongly harassed, wrongly profiled, wrongly arrested and wrongly killed.
Police Chief Thomas Streicher needs to get his act together. Maybe he needs to resign and be replaced. In any case, the city must change the way chiefs are chosen, allowing for new blood to be brought in from outside the division.
Cincinnati voters rejected a charter amendment in 1997 that would have allowed the city manager to hire police chiefs based solely on their qualifications and not simply on their Cincinnati career. CityBeat endorsed such a change, arguing that a chief hired directly by the city manager, who answers to city council, would be more accountable to the public.
“Cincinnati can always benefit from new ideas,” our 1997 endorsement editorial said. “The city’s long-held tradition of civic insulation has helped create a population that cares deeply about its hometown, but it’s also managed to keep power concentrated in a few hands — Cincinnati-born white males — long after other major American cities have grown and diversified. We have to believe that, if a police or fire chief were ever hired from outside the city, the community would be better for it.”
In the short run, the grand jury process must be allowed to run its course regarding Officer Stephen Roach. If he’s indicted, so be it. If he’s not, we can’t see a repeat of violence in the streets.
But something else needs to happen to help us regain faith in the system, whichever way it goes for Roach. The cops who participated in the “drive-by shooting” of people leaving Thomas’ funeral (see “Firing on Children,” page 15) must be disciplined. Then, and only then, can those arrested for rampaging last week be disciplined as well.
· Help Over-the-Rhine. Most of the damage done last week was in the same neighborhood where Thomas was killed. And most of the people arrested for the violence weren’t neighborhood residents.
In other words, Over-the-Rhine got dumped on again.
For years now CityBeat has published editorials calling for more attention to be paid to Over-the-Rhine. I’ve always seen Cincinnati’s first neighborhood as our “front door,” while city leaders remain preoccupied with riverfront development as job No. 1.
Political and business leaders conspired to put the Reds’ new stadium on the river instead of at Broadway Commons, where it would have jump-started development in Over-the-Rhine. Downtown Cincinnati Inc. refuses to include Over-the-Rhine in its downtown improvement efforts.
Meanwhile, the population base in the neighborhood continues to shrivel, down to 7,600 in the 2000 census compared to 9,500 in 1990 and 12,000 in 1980. And, meanwhile, lots of small business owners struggle to make a go of it there.
Another “master plan” for Over-the-Rhine is being tinkered with at City Hall as we speak and, when finished, likely will sit on the shelf with all the city’s previous plans.
During last week’s violence, police obviously were willing to let Over-the-Rhine burn to the ground as long as rioters didn’t cross Central Parkway into the central business district. It was a microcosm of how city leaders treat the neighborhood every day.
Every public official in Cincinnati and Hamilton County must focus on how he or she can help Over-the-Rhine. During last fall’s campaign, county treasurer candidate Bob Drake offered a plan to reform how the county invests its funds, putting its money only in local banks that invest in urban neighborhoods.
It was an innovative idea to involve a minor county office with social policy, but it was waved off by imcumbent Treasurer Robert Goering as too bothersome. Goering defeated Drake last November, and the status quo reigns supreme.
I bring up the plan as just one small example of how every elected official can and must be involved in change.
· Repeal Issue 3. Much of the social culture that feeds the city’s police division and our political and business leaders descends from Issue 3, the 1993 ballot initiative in which Cincinnati voters defeated legal protection for gays. It legalized discrimination and intolerance in our city.
It also came about when certain influential folks, backed by certain influential African-American leaders, maneuvered the black community here to support Issue 3. The argument offered was that civil rights for blacks was a finite pie and any piece given to another group, such as gays, took something from the black community’s rights. African Americans bought the bullshit in enough numbers to help pass Issue 3.
But what all of us should realize is the old saying that no one’s truly free unless everyone’s free. And Cincinnati can never be a city tolerant of diversity until every citizen is protected from discrimination.
Issue 3 should be put before Cincinnati voters again as part of a real reform package. And Cincinnatians should look into their hearts to see if they really want a tolerant, open-minded and supportive community.
· Get involved and make a difference. Here’s where you come in. CityBeat readers should already be open to new ideas, already be familiar with Over-the-Rhine’s struggles and opportunities, already be tolerant. You must step up and become the leaders.
Cincinnati’s future depends on action on two fronts — our city leaders, who have tough decisions to make regarding these problems, and our citizens, who must hold the leaders accountable for finding solutions. If Mayor Charlie Luken, city council members, county officials, the police chief and others don’t act quickly and decisively, don’t let them get away with it. Vote them out, vote in reformers and demand solutions.
Our leaders serve us, all of us, and don’t let them forget it.
Don’t abandon Over-the-Rhine because of the violence. Lots of good people who live there, work there and own businesses there were effected by the rampages; they need your help, support and patronage.
Don’t abandon the police. They need your help and support as well.
Don’t buy into intolerance. Don’t succumb to apathy or frustration. Don’t hurt each other over inequities or rivalries fostered by the city’s political and business leaders.
And demand real change for once. The only workable solution is a package of reforms that addresses problems in the police force, provides economic relief to Over-the-Rhine and repeals Issue 3. The package must be passed as a whole, not piecemeal, so every citizen of Cincinnati sees real benefits — not just one segment.
No one’s looking for a handout right now. We’re just looking for a way to pull together instead of walking away. ©
This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2001.
