Ron Daniels: Why Did Cincinnati Explode? Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - Black Radical Congress - General News Articles/Reports The Black World Today April 25, 2001 The Significance of the Rebellion in Cincinnati By Ron Daniels National political analysts and media pundits seemed shocked that a quiet mid-western town along the Ohio River, Cincinnati would erupt in a rebellion. On the surface the "Queen City" appears to be a prosperous, peaceful and contented community, the headquarters of the fabled Proctor and Gamble Corporation and home to the Bengal's football and Red's baseball teams. State of the art sports stadia stand tall along the river front minutes away from a thriving downtown area. Why then did Cincinnati explode? The cries for justice from the Black community in Cincinnati have been ignored for years, particularly as it relates to police brutality and demands for economic justice. I have been aware of the crisis in this city for at least three years, having received numerous complaints at the Center for Constitutional Rights about police brutality from grassroots organizations. The death of Timothy Thomas, an unarmed 19 year old Black man who had a series of misdemeanor convictions, most of which were for traffic violations, was the proverbial straw that broke the Camel's back. Since 1995 officers of the Cincinnati Police Department have killed fifteen Black men, five in the last 24 months. Hence a rebellion, which shocked the nation, was the result of a long festering problem in a city, which simply chose to ignore the growing crescendo of protest against police abuse and the escalating use of deadly force against African American males. Young Timothy Thomas was unarmed, but the officer who killed him claimed he thought Timothy had a gun - another case of a cop who made a "mistake." The problem is that what the Black youth in Cincinnati and leaders like Rev. Damon Lynch of the Black United Front and Bill Land of the United Church of Christ are saying is that there have been too many "mistakes," and the mistakes always seem to be Black people! In Cincinnati and across the country Black communities like Over the Rhine are targeted for massive police sweeps and the widespread stopping and frisking of Black youth. And, in virtually every instance the police rationale is the same. The police argue that these tactics are justified because they are being employed in "high crime" areas where the effort to reduce crime and the "war on drugs" necessitates the use of aggressive policing strategies. In a deeper sense, however, the rebellion in Cincinnati is symptomatic of the real crime in American society, the benign and blatant neglect of urban inner city communities that has created and perpetuated zones of desolation and despair in an era of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity. The fading boom on Wall Street was never more than a faint echo in the ghettos, barrios and reservations of this nation. The predominantly Black inner-city neighborhoods in Cincinnati are no exception. A staggering 2/3 of the Black population in Cincinnati lives at or below the poverty line and in the eight low income communities, including the Over the Rhine neighborhood where the rebellion erupted, that make up the empowerment zone in the city, 89% live at or below the poverty line. The home ownership rate is 38% citywide but only 13% in the neighborhoods in the empowerment zone. In the meantime there are an estimated 5,000 vacant or abandoned buildings in the city. Cincinnati's inner city schools are also in crisis with a number of low performing schools. The school district consistently ranks near the top in the country in the number of suspensions and expulsions, the vast majority of which are Black students. It is also no surprise that the criminal justice system, from the courtrooms to the jails, is bulging with Blacks. In the meantime 26 leading corporations comprise a business council that presides over the destiny of the city, largely ignoring the plight of dispossessed Black communities. And, there is a feeling that in a city that is 40% Black, the established Black leadership has failed to effectively represent and fight for Blacks at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. The significance of the rebellion in Cincinnati is that it was sparked by conditions that can be found in urban inner city Black communities all across this country. Unfortunately, the prescription for the problem is often the same - more police, aggressive policing strategies that involve targeting "high crime areas," tougher sentencing, more jails and prisons. Fueled by the demagogic pronouncements of shallow, self-serving politicians of both parties, simplistic and misguided policing strategies have become a substitute for social, economic and racial justice. Black youth in Cincinnati rebelled because they are the victims of systems and institutions which expect them to suffer peacefully in the face of persistent neglect and injustice. As I wrote in the concluding essay in Jill Nelson's powerful book Police Brutality: "The familiar slogan 'no justice, no peace' is in reality a formula for crime reduction and the creation of wholesome and secure communities. Unless and until this nation makes a firm and irreversible commitment to ensure that all of the people ... enjoy access to the same social and economic rights - good jobs, quality education, housing, health care, clean environment - instability, violence, and crime will continue to be problems that no amount or method of policing can contain." The rebellion in Cincinnati should not have come as a surprise. The real mystery is what took it so long and why haven't more communities exploded. It may be a long hot summer! Copyright (c) 2001 The Black World Today. All Rights Reserved. [IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and opinions expressed on this list are solely those of the authors and/or publications, and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official political positions of the Black Radical Congress (BRC). Official BRC statements, position papers, press releases, action alerts, and announcements are distributed exclusively via the BRC-PRESS list. 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