The city of Cincinnati should be using every opportunity tell the world about its efforts to heal racial rifts in this city.

Today would be an good time to do just that at a forum sponsored by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which will be held at the University of Cincinnati's African-American Cultural Research Center.

The forum aims to hear strategies for resolving the city's racial conflict. This is not expected to be a confrontational event; rather a group of witnesses from a number of Cincinnati human and civil rights organizations have been asked to testify. Community activists will also testify about how they view the city's progress in race relations, and hopefully present solutions.

Ron Daniels, executive director of the Center, told the Enquirer that one of the goals would be to find ways to end the economic boycott of the city that has hindered progress for nearly two years.

Mayor Charlie Luken's office said it only heard about the meeting on Wednesday and that the mayor has a scheduling conflict and cannot attend. Instead, Luken has prepared two pages of written testimony on behalf of the city.

The testimony details the racial progress the city has made since the April 2001 riots, including the tenuous collaborative agreement, empowerment zone investments and Cincinnati Community Action Now (Cincinnati CAN).

These are major achievements the city should be trumpeting all the time. Putting forth triumphs by proxy in today's high-profile setting is better than nothing, but the mayor should reconsider attending, or at least send a representative in his place.

CCR, which was founded in 1966, has a national platform, and seems to want to help the city end the boycott and promote reconciliation. Its mission includes using litigation to promote social justice. We should embrace anyone seeking positive solutions to the city's race-relations problem.

The city should seize this an opportunity to place its best foot forward.