Now that we've got a 300-pound gorilla off our backs, what do we do about the monkey?

Now that Cincinnati has shed itself of Dr. Alan Kalmanoff - the man who would have overseen the agreements between the city, police, community members and parties of a racial profiling suit - are we ready to face our real problem?

Cincinnati's got a monkey on its back. A habit we just can't shake, a downer that depresses the entire region's long-term health and viability.

We're addicted to racial conflict.

We can't seem to help ourselves. Like a crackhead with found cash, we regularly head to the nearest danger spot for a hit. We use whatever excuse is handy to indulge, binge and, in a few tragic cases, like the April 2001 unrest, to overdose.

This time, Dr. Kal could have been an excuse to relapse.

He was arrogant, uncommunicative, and he looked ready to cash in on the landmark legal deals that are supposed to eliminate racial profiling by Cincinnati police.

Old habits

But parties in the collaborative have used Dr. Kal as an excuse to step into old roles and behaviors.

Certain politicians pilloried him in public, partly to score political points and, in the process, create an image of authority or control over the process.

They were right to question the costs. But they were wrong to do it confrontationally, in a way that publicly locked out the other members of the racial collaborative.

Now they've got to work harder to dispel that whiff of dÈjý vu some in the community sense, that the city is too cheap to put its money on racial-equity issues. Remember how quickly the collaborative environment cracked when city politicians balked at paying lawyers' bills?

The city is but one of the partners in the racial collaborative. Its politicians can't go around acting like overseers.

This issue is in the courts and will be overseen by a judge. If the settlements fail and a drawn-out lawsuit ensues, that may cost taxpayers much more than the $5 million to $7 million estimated for a monitor. That's not counting the community's cost in continued racial rancor.

Focus on cure

Some police officials also assumed old roles, acting offended that Dr. Kal spoke with retiring assistant chief Ron Twitty before consulting with them.

Where's the crime in that? Before Lt. Col . Twitty was accused of providing false information about the damage to his city-issued car, he was a top-ranking, veteran police official, one of the few who are black.

The collaborative agreements deal with race and police. Is the next monitor only supposed to talk with top-ranking white officers?

Then there are the representatives of blacks who alleged racial profiling by police. They missed an opportunity to honestly and openly assess Dr. Kalmanoff's failings. In the process of defending the collaborative, they looked like they were defending the man.

But at least they stayed at the bargaining table.

Any drug-treatment worker knows that addicts will use any setback as an excuse to give up.

We can't let that happen. We still need an intervention - by someone outside our circle of sickness, who'll hold a mirror to our faces and help us devise a way out of our racial dysfunction.

The monitor can't be the kind of person who wins popularity contests.

He or she will have to be tough, realistic, principled, and independent.

So Dr. Kalmanoff wasn't right for the job.

We know what we don't want. We'd better get clear and get cracking on what we do want.

Cincinnati can kick its habit, but we junkies have to keep our focus on the cure.

E-mail damos@enquirer.com or phone 768-8395.