Judge Nathaniel R. Jones, who has announced he's retiring from the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, shared his thoughts about the state of race relations in his adopted hometown, Cincinnati, with the Cincinnati Enquirer:

        Question: Have relations between the races gotten better or worse since the April rioting?

        Answer: The pace of change may not be as quick as we might desire, but attitudes are changing. When you are dealing with problems as deeply rooted as these are, problems that stem from institutional assumptions, it's very hard to measure change.

        What has to happen is this: Whites cannot assume that because the black middle class has grown, there is no need for the remedies of discrimination. What blacks must understand is that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. They have to be willing to fight to preserve what has been achieved so far.

        Q: What, in your opinion, brought about the riots in April? Was it something more than the shooting of Timothy Thomas?

        A: People too often mis-characterize what happened here in Cincinnati as a “race riot.” This was not a race riot, in the classic use of the term.

        The issue was whether or not there was an overuse of force by the police. There is a feeling among many blacks that the prosecutors in this community have not been willing to meet the issue head-on.

        Whites have to understand why blacks react the way they do to police authority. Because of what they have gone through in their lives, they can easily understand the idea that police can abuse their power.

        What happened last year was a reaction to a perceived abuse of power, in this instance, by the police. A reaction to the use of power by people who felt they had no power.

        Q: Do you see any hopeful signs for Cincinnati?

        A: I think one of the most positive things that can happen is the completion of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on the riverfront.

        There are those who said that, after what happened here last year, we don't deserve to have this center. But we do, because this city has the rich and deep history of the Underground Railroad. We need to make people aware of that heritage. To me, it is our most unique opportunity to deal with issues of race in this community.

        Now that I am retiring from the bench, I am going to intensify my efforts to complete that project, because I believe it is so important for all of us.

        Q: You have been a consistent defender of American civil liberties throughout your judicial career. Are you at all concerned about the civil liberties issues that have been raised since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks?

        A: I hope we do not go down that road again. The polls seem to suggest the American people are willing to give up some liberties for a feeling of safety against terrorists. But we need to look at history. Every time we have compromised our constitutional rights in a crisis, we have lived to regret it.

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