This is a call for a little respect, Cincinnati.

        We've seen how powerful respect can be this past week.

        Police leaders, African-American activists and a gaggle of lawyers — all usually tigers in battle — shook hands over an agreement that could propel Cincinnati beyond its bitter history of race struggles.

        The agreement calls for new oversight and procedures for police, resolving a lawsuit alleging decades of bias. Attorney General John Ashcroft visits today to bless the settlement.

        The public ought to respond in kind.

        We ought to be willing to do the extraordinary, to show some respect for one another.

        But some among us couldn't even make it a week.
       

Oba is misrepresentative

        Kabaka Oba, for instance, has been using last weekend's rally at the police memorial for fallen officers to elevate himself. Almost daily he has been on the radio, bragging about the rally, claiming more clout than his tiny group, the Black Fist, deserves.

        He doesn't mention that most of the marchers commemorating Timothy Thomas' death decided against moving from Fountain Square to the police memorial last Sunday.

        For them, as well as for me, it was like marching on a grave in a cemetery. It's disrespectful at least, touchy at best.

        Some officers said the disrespect went further. They said demonstrators spit on the memorial. But even police officials aren't backing up that story. There's no evidence, Chief Thomas Streicher said.

        I understand police officers' anger. I, too, know disrespect when I see it.

        But those who would lump Mr. Oba's ilk with other black protesters are falling back into an old pattern: They're painting all African-Americans with the same brush.

        Mr. Oba was not among those who hammered out the settlement. He does not represent all black people. Aside from his few followers, many consider him an extremist.

        To envision that he represents the black community is one of the oldest and most obvious signs of disrespect.

        Yet Fraternal Order of Police leader Roger Webster did just that when he vowed to make the memorial rally the first test of the agreement to improve police-community relations.

        His demand that protesters apologize was futile. Chances are, the people who would apologize aren't the ones who committed the inappropriate acts.

        Mr. Webster knows this. But outrage and demands are comfortable tools.

        Consider this, too: A large number of police officers — 39 percent of them — voted against the agreement. Their vote means they would rather let a federal court decide police procedures here. No one has polled them, but surely they don't want to drag Cincinnati's image further downhill.

        Surely, they're ready now to start building a culture of compromise and accountability.

        This week's grandstanding by Mr. Oba and Mr. Webster harmonized beautifully with the pitiful notes that Cincinnati City Council struck over plaintiffs' lawyers' fees.

        Picture this: politicians on the cusp of a historic compromise almost ready to blow it over whether to pay lawyers who helped craft the compromise. The agreement could keep Cincinnati out of court and boost the city's troubled image, but council members wanted to save face, first, as well as a few hundred thousand dollars.

        Where pettiness reigns, disrespect isn't far behind.

        It's an old pattern Cincinnati can't seem to break.

       Denise Smith Amos can be reached at 768-8395, or e-mail
       damos@enquirer.com.
       

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