Nearly 12 years after riots, Cincinnati race relations improving but more progress needed

CINCINNATI - Cincinnati race relations have come a long way since the riots of 2001, but the community still has a long way to go.

So says Nathaniel Jones, the retired judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit who will be honored at the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati’s Heart-to-Heart Racial Justice Breakfast March 12. The event also will honor U.S. District Judge Arthur Spiegel.

Jones’ history with the issue here goes back to the 1960s, when he was deputy general counsel to then-President Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission. The commission was formed in the wake of the riots of the 1960s. It found that Cincinnati had great disparities between its black and white residents back then – and great insensitivity to the challenges its black residents faced, he said.

“The Cincinnati of then and the Cincinnati of now are different,” he said.

Although disparities still exist in education and economic well being, Jones said important changes have occurred in what he calls “the echelon of policy making.”

Cincinnati has a black mayor, a black city manager, five black council members and a black police chief, he noted.

“The democratic process relies to a large extent on confidence – that those who wield power are sensitive and trustworthy,” he said.

Beyond government roles, the Cincinnati Bengals have a black head coach, and the Cincinnati Reds have a black manager, Jones noted.

“All of these elements, they all come together,” he said.

The city also has made big strides in police-community relations since 2001, said Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, publisher of The Cincinnati Herald and chair of the YWCA committee that plans the breakfast.

There’s much greater trust and communication between the Cincinnati Police Department and the community than there was in 2001, she said, and much more positive interaction.

“It helps the officers to get to know the people in the community and helps the community get to know the officers,” she said.

Kearney agreed, though, that Cincinnati still faces daunting challenges with economic and educational disparities.

“We’re making strides in those directions,” she said. “We just have a long way to go.”

Kearney said she believes the key to progress is continued communication and interaction – and that’s what the upcoming YWCA breakfast is all about.

The YWCA held its first Heart-to-Heart breakfast on Valentine’s Day in 2001, less than two months before the riots.

The goal was to have meaningful discussions on the difficult topic of race, and that’s just as important now as it was then, said Charlene Ventura, CEO of YWCA Greater Cincinnati. She noted that for years the YWCA’s dual mission has been eliminating racism and empowering women.

“It’s an opportunity for us to educate the community,” she said of the event.

And regardless of how far Cincinnati has come, that’s still important so people can understand the challenges the community faces and how residents can help, Kearney said.

“Right now, I think it’s everybody doing a small part. And that might be how we have to do it,” she said. “Until somebody comes up with a big answer, and there might not be one, everybody’s got to do something. We have to keep moving forward.”

The 13th Annual YWCA Heart-to-Heart Racial Justice Breakfast will be from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. March 12 at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center downtown. For more information or to register call (513) 361-2119.