Readers’ Response to Tear Down the Walls - Racism in Cincinnati
By Mark Faust

CLICK HERE to see the Video from the original interview.

Editor's Note: Management consultant Mark Faust is interviewing area leaders about Cincinnati's opportunities, and what it would take to improve Cincinnati's economic and other potentials.


By Mark Faust

An interview with turnaround CEO Ford Taylor yielded his insights for improving our city's opportunities.

His top priorities included training and hiring prisoners into the workforce, and economic development that looks more like investment and less like charity. But he chiefly focused on the point that Cincinnati needs to acknowledge racism and begin a collaboration that isn't just between business and government. The collaboration needs to be among those parties as well as nonprofits, schools, and especially churches, Taylor said.

See the Aug. 11 issue of the Business Courier or 
CLICK HERE to see the Video from the original interview.
This writer received more letters and e-mails in response to the column than any other article he has written.

Not one comment refuted the assertion that there is racism in the city of Cincinnati. Responses fell into three categories.

1. "Yeah but, You First"

Some replied with a tone reflected in this email, "One thing was left out, and that was that racism in this city is two ways . . . It's my belief that the black community in this town has to reach just as far as whites to achieve some sense of harmony."

2. "Yes Cincinnati is Far Worse Than Here"

From cities across the country we heard things like, "This could have been published in our city as well."

But more eye-opening was the e-mail from Keith in Atlanta who wrote, "You have addressed the total sum of the problem in Cincinnati. It had become such a problem for me and my family. We finally decided to relocate to Atlanta, and while this city has its own set of problems, race and economics are not hindering overall progress. Please continue to challenge the status quo in my hometown because change is needed or it will continue to miss valuable opportunities and resources."

As the above email bespeaks of Cincinnati expatriates, and as Ford Taylor shared when he tried to recruit a top employee to Cincinnati, we too often hear similar echoes from our city's premier companies who have trouble recruiting top talent because of the racial perceptions of our city.

This costs companies tens of millions of dollars. What does it cost the rest of us?


3. Let's Start Now

Most replies to the column had a tone or comment that suggested the strategies Taylor mentioned are valid, and it’s time to act. "But who will step up. When?" asked one reader.

If not you, who? If not now, when?

Every person reading this must wake up to the fact that they are much more of an influencer in this city than they realize. As a business person, you have contact with anywhere from dozens to hundreds — perhaps even thousands — of people in a variety of conversations that allow for you to make an impact.

A.G. Lafely, George Schaefer and their ilk aren't the chief influencers of this city. The chief influencers are those who are creating unique collaborations that involve all facets of the community and the human spirit. Only you can decide to include or exclude yourself into that chief influencers bubble.

If you refuse to decide, refuse to at least commit even one step in a different direction, then you risk being the cause of apathy, as this reader states:
"Very interesting article. Having one of my best friends move to Cincinnati and having lived in a few of the nicer sections of the city, she senses the segregation every day. When I visit her, I notice it in the conversations and many other ways. I hear it when people tell you to avoid certain places because of their views of the diverse group of people that may be there, although now as time goes on, she just accepts it all as everyday, normal."

What could you begin? With whom could you engage, from another neighborhood, another church, another business...another race?

The ball is in your court.

For more information on this subject, visit these Web sites:
 www.TransformationCincinnati.com, www.cincinnatusassoc.org and www.valleylearn.org.

Faust is a management consultant and owner of Echelon Management. To contact him e-mail Faust@EchelonManagement.com or call (513) 621-8000