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South Asians Stay Quiet as Cincinnati Burns

For the past four days Cincinnati has been a quasi war zone, as African-Americans have taken to the streets to protest the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black youth.

Riots, looting, fires and gunfights have besieged the conservative, whistle-clean city, transforming some areas into what the Mayor said resembled Beirut.

The Ohio National Guard may be called in to assist the more than 1,000 police officers already present. At least 66 people have been arrested since the violence began Monday.

But outside the downtown perimeter and in the quiet suburbs existing only minutes away, most of Cincinnati's 5,000-strong South Asian community will remain aloof from the violence.

"I just came from downtown," explained Gyan Mehta, a 52-year-old IT specialist with Proctor and Gamble. "It was so strange ... we were less than a mile from where things are going on, but the only violence I have seen is on television."

On Thursday night, a citywide curfew began at 8 pm. Excluding people going to work, anyone on the streets before 6 am would be arrested.

"We cannot tolerate the lawlessness any longer," Mayor Charles Luken told a news conference. "'We ask those citizens whose services are affected to stay in their houses and pray."

The rioting erupted after police shot and killed Timothy Thomas, a 19-year-old sought on 14 misdemeanor arrest warrants, last Saturday. It was the 15th time a black crime suspect has been killed by Cincinnati police since 1995.

Much of the unrest has been contained to the West End, where much of the city's African-American community lives. Violence first began in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

"Who would expect this in Cincinnati?" asked Suresh Patel, a 36-year-old hotel manager who did not want his real name used. "Maybe if you lived in Los Angeles ..."

Mehta, like other South Asians in the area, is quick to point out that South Asians are unaffected because they do not live in the downtown core. A Cincinnati resident for 12 years, Mehta pointed out that the city is "highly segregated".

Most Indians living in the area work for the two largest companies there, Procter & Gamble and General Electric, and reside in Montgomery, a suburb fifteen minutes north of the downtown area. A few South Asians own businesses in downtown, such as newsstands and fast food restaurants.

Though unaffected by the violence, Patel and Mehta are disturbed at the police treatment given to African-Americans, who make up 43 percent of Cincinnati's population.

"I think the police went a bit too far," Patel said. "After so many other shooting incidents, this one just broke things loose."

"I don't get affected by this personally, but it's the city I live in," Mehta said. "This is not the first time that someone has got shot for no reason."

Anant Singh, a mechanical engineer with General Electric who has lived in the Cincinnati suburbs for over 16 years, said his first reaction to the news was to call his daughter, who lives in the downtown campus of the University of Cincinnati.

Even though she is in a dormitory that is patrolled regularly, Singh wanted to make sure she was okay. "I told her to be careful," he said.

Singh is philosophical about the unrest.

"It is not that different from back home in India," he said. "Whenever there is trouble, it happens in the poor areas. It is what can happen in any big city."

Singh said he sympathized with the many African-Americans protesting the police brutality.

"We all are Americans here," he said. "This is a struggle between two sides, where one side feels that something has been taken from them.

"I think that some people should be angry, but it's tough to say if Indians and Asians feel like that."

Mehta hopes that the situation will calm down after the curfew. He has friends who live in downtown Cincinnati, and is worried about their safety.

"Hopefully, we've seen the worst of the violence," he said.

But Patel wasn't willing to take any chances.

"I don't want to go into downtown anytime soon," he said. "Even though I'm from India ... you never know."

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