Porkopolis: : Curly Tales of the City

Combatting Hate
They say if you let a fool talk long enough he’ll prove himself foolish. That adage certainly applies to Citizens for Community Values (CCV) President Phil Burress, who finally went on the record as trying to deliberately damage CityBeat’s business.

During a break in the Feb. 7 taping of Hot Seat, the local political roundtable program on WCPO (Channel 9), Burress — invited to discuss Cincinnati’s new hate crimes ordinance, among other topics — had a heated exchange with CityBeat columnist Kathy Y. Wilson, a regular Hot Seat panelist, about the paper. When Wilson confronted Burress with CityBeat‘s suspicions that he was involved in efforts to remove the paper from certain distribution points — which he’s denied — Burress proudly told her and Hot Seat host Eric Kearney that CCV has gotten CityBeat kicked out of Kroger, Meijer and other spots. Kroger did not renew CityBeat‘s distribution contract in 1999, and Meijer abruptly ended a contract last fall.

The remarks follow a conversation Burress had with CityBeat reporter Maria Rogers, who called him to comment for a story (Out of Our Bedrooms, issue of Feb. 5-11). Burress declined to comment, saying it would be hypocritical of him to be quoted in a newspaper he was trying to get removed from distribution points.

Despite opposition from Burress, Cincinnati City Council voted 7-2 on Feb. 5 to expand the city’s hate crimes law. The amended law now also covers age, physical and mental disability, gender and sexual orientation in addition to race, color, religion and national origin.

“The city has no jurisdiction over felony matters, but when it comes to misdemeanors it was able to do this,” said Elliott Ruther, council aide for Councilman John Cranley, who proposed the ordinance along with Councilman David Crowley.

There will now be tougher penalties for people committing misdemeanor crimes based on hatred for the included groups, Ruther said.

“It’s an issue about tolerance,” Cranley said, adding that focusing on smaller things might help prevent much more heinous crimes. “I believe ultimately at the end of the day it’s about standing up for the dignity of all life.”

Crowley said he had received more than 250 e-mails and letters in support of the ordinance. One letter, from leaders at the Claver Jesuit Community, addressed the action in terms of faith.

“As members of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic men’s religious order, we would like to share that respect for God-given dignity of all persons means the recognition of human rights and responsibilities,” the letter stated. “The teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended and that all of us must strive to eliminate any forms of injustice, oppression or violence against them.”

Councilman David Pepper said he hopes the ordinance will make a practical difference in citizens’ lives.

Council members Pat DeWine and Chris Monzel voted against the ordinance.

Freedom for Some
Attacks on provocative media start at any early age in Greater Cincinnati, as a group of Turpin High School students recently found out. The founders of Snafu, an underground newspaper/Web site, have been rounded up and punished for the crime of original thought on important issues of the day.

Turpin students tell us that as many as 16 classmates were involved in publishing the four-page paper and its Web site (www.geocities.com/snafupaper) on Feb. 3, and two were suspended while others had to attend “Saturday school.” After the punishments were announced, another student was reprimanded for reading the First Amendment over the PA system following the Pledge of Allegiance.

Snafu contained articles criticizing U.S. selective service, the pro-life movement, racism and teen-agers who engage in promiscuous sex. The language was strong and frank, with a couple of “F” and “N” bombs thrown in for effect. Overall, the paper comes down hard on “WASPville U.S.A.,” as the students call their home suburb, for hypocrisy, close-mindedness and ignoring racial tensions.

Meanwhile, down in “dangerous” and “urban” Over-the-Rhine, a racially diverse crowd filled Memorial Hall Feb. 5 to see a preview screening of Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives. The documentary, now showing on HBO, shares the words of former slaves through on-camera readings by well-known African American actors. Cincinnati and Ripley, Ohio are mentioned several times as havens for escaping slaves.

Speakers before and after the screening included Spencer Crew, executive director of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Ira Berlin, a historian who consulted on the film; and Virgil Reed, president of Time Warner Cable’s Cincinnati division, which co-sponsored the screening. The Freedom Center receives a percentage of proceeds from the Unchained Memories book, in which Crew wrote the forward.

This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2003.