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I do have to note that I find these choices ironic since Birmingham is considered "The Pittsburgh of the South" due to its steel heritage. Honestly though, I too would think of Pittsburgh if somebody was looking for a conservative and static community without much in the way of diversity. The average town in SWPA has a demographic split of about 90-98% caucasian...there is NO diversity. I literally work in a school district within the Pittsburgh MSA but outside of Allegheney County that has 70% economically disadvantaged and 99% caucasian demographics. This is pretty much the norm for a LOT of the area in terms of having a ridiculously dominant caucasian population. Nothing wrong with giving Pittsburgh a go, but the overall region is NOT open to diversity beyond Pittsburgh itself...not that there are issues or tensions here, but it's typical "Appalachian/West Virginia/Midwestern" territory and the mindsets match that.
Travel and the overall region is pretty important. I don't care what anybody tries to say, Birmingham has Pittsburgh beat very easily with this one. We're talking about simple driving distance to Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Huntsville, and Atlanta with Memphis, New Orleans, Jackson, Mobile, and Nashville being accessible within the nearby area. Atlanta, Memphis, and New Orleans are pretty much as good as it gets when discussing national hubs for African American culture, with Birmingham obviously feeding off of Atlanta. Total no brainer, the entire region is full of African American history and culture...as a musician, I LOVE Memphis and New Orleans for their roots/blues heritage. If those two cities don't have black southern culture down perfectly than I don't know of anyplace that does. There's an entirely different feel and presence to cities like Atlanta/Memphis/New Orleans than there is in Pittsburgh. Birmingham is going to be the same way to the point where you can feel that things are different and it's a part of something large-scale that spreads throughout the general region.
By contrast, Pittsburgh has Morgantown WV, and sort of Columbus and Cleveland if you stretch that. If you REALLY stretch your distances, you could say that Pittsburgh is within a trip to Philly, Baltimore, and DC but we're not a part of the NE territory and the trip can get rough when dealing with the mountains and whatnot, especially during the winter. Pittsburgh is much more isolated and has a reputation for being its own thing without influence, that's part of the Pittsburgh mystique...that we're closed off from other cities and have our own identity.
Just saying, there's absolutely no way that the SWPA/WV/E-OH region holds a candle to the cities of the deep south for African American culture.
The OP is talking about Pittsburgh and Allegheny County...Lets keep it there....Not in WV or OH which neither are apart of Pittsburgh CSA or MSA and he's not talking about towns in Greene or Fayette County.....
So anything outside Pittsburgh/Allegheny County is irrelevant....
you said "Where I got that from is all the insinuation flying around that the OP wants to segregate himself to only be around Blacks and assimilate with only Blacks....Outside of the Sterotype who does that???? "
.....so are you saying that in order for blacks NOT to be ghetto, they HAVE to be in a "mixed" environment??? ?..
It makes perfect sense....Outside the Ghetto...What blacks are there that only want to segragate themselves with other blacks????? I Dont?....
The South is Extemely Segragated even more so than Pittsburgh...I dont care what Telecasterblues tries to portray Pittsburgh as even though Pittsburgh is alot more "White" its far more excepting and liberal than the South with its KKK culture which is still prevelent outside Atlanta....Now why as a Black Professional would I want to be a part of that Segragate culture....
Quote:
Originally Posted by King_X
From your comments, it looks like you're saying that if he wants to surround himself with blacks, that means he must want to be around "ghetto" culture....lol as if there arent nice, non-ghetto black establishments down here..
But does he only want to segragate himself with blacks??? I Dont think he does, otherwise Birmingham is the easy choice why would he even ask about Pittsburgh...You have 3 times the blacks in the south...But still no one as showed me that they live better lives....just because there Triple the number of Blacks doesn't mean their not oppressed in South as to the North....from what I've seen through my travels, outside ATL Blacks seem to be still very much oppressed in the South...but I've never been to Birmingham so I will wait for facts to show that Blacks are afforded the better life in the South...
Quote:
Originally Posted by King_X
There are BLACK bars/clubs that only play neo-soul/r&b and require dress code even in my part of GA...which isnt ATL. And they arent ghetto at all.
They have those same establishments in Pittsburgh and ???????
Do they have other black establishments that are not catagorized as "Bar/Clubs"?????
LOL, I love how you can see Pittsburgh's outline perfectly and about 90% of WV is basically pitch dark.
But you can actually see what I was talking about with how the general SWPA region fades out the very instant that you leave Pittsburgh, with it only getting darker and darker the further that you go. You can literally pinpoint the territory where I work just SW of Pittsburgh's outline. Anywhere outside of Allegheney County is going to have zilch for diversity.
Again the OP isn't talking about "Outside" Pittsburgh...He talking about Pittsburgh....what are you trying to prove by bringing all these insignificant towns that even I haven't set foot in and I'm from Pittsburgh....
Look at Wiz...This is Pittsburgh thru and thru..Look at a rapper who shows how blacks and whites come together to Rep their city......Is it this way in Birmingham??? or in the South for that matter.
What? I think you need to ask yourself that question.
Are you implying that outside of the major/big cities....that the medium/smaller cities and rural areas of PA are no different than the ones of Alabama or Georgia?
You are aware that in southern states widespread black population isnt limited to only a handful of cities per state like in non-southern states, right?
you ask how is it different? This is how it's different. Outside of CERTAIN PARTS of Pittsburgh and Philly = White......Outside of Bham = still very black.
My small metro in Middle GA has more black culture than Pittsburgh lol.
You can stop showing me how Black popluation is more dense in the South than it is in the North...I will be first to tell you outside of Philly and Pittsburgh...PA is very Redneck/Hickish....No Doubt...
But the south has plenty of the same along with deep segregation in the Big Cities even in ATL....
I want you to show me how Black are afforded a better life in the South...Numbers don't prove that....Blacks are huge in the Carolinas the same places Whites fly confederate flags on their door steps.... does that make for a better life for blacks in the Carolinas????
Look all you guys can keep throwing up smoke screens and telling me how Blacks are tripple the population in the South than the North....I mean that's easy...
Show me where blacks live better lives in Birmingham than blacks in Pittsburgh....
Pittsburgh is one of the Most Educated cities in the country that includes blacks....
In Pittsburgh there are several neighborhoods where black and whites are assimilated with each other. Blacks own their homes with well kept property and manicured lawns the whole 9
Pittsburgh there are Black own establishments that are patroned by more than just blacks and in areas that are not predominately black....
Pittsburgh has a strong middle/working class culture were blacks included are able to afford everything the city has to offer, from Culture, Nightlife, Arts, Theater, Entertainment.....
Pittsburgh was not rated Most Liveable City by 6 national publications for nothing.
It's not Whites over here, Blacks over there lifestyle in Pittsburgh.....Is there work to be done to make blacks an even more affluent part of society...sure is...but that can be said for any city in america
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
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Blackbeauty....show me that blacks in Pittsburgh are offered a better life than in Birmingham, especially since 33.9% of blacks in PITT live in poverty as opposed to only 24.4% in Bham.
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
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Blackbeauty...you're so right. Please do a google search for "most segregated cities" and see which cities dominate the lists. (Hint: They aren't southern)
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
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lmao....you are clueless....do you think it's all us vs. them down here??? Look, I'm from DEEP in the heart of Georgia...from the small metro of Macon, Georgia...these are pics from one of the most popular clubs here called Envy.....WOW someone call the press...NO WAY these pics can be from the same nightspot DEEP in the heart of Georgia
WOW....with this being in the south....in georgia....particularly NOT in metro ATL...it's just amazing and defies reason you could find spots like this....the only gatherings there are either hicks in overalls at one place.......and "thugs" at another, right??
Birmingham is much larger than Macon....so you could find even more hang outs like this over there. Get over it the south is not the "stereotype" you want it to be here in 2010, even outside of the big cities.
Us southerners that reside in areas outside of major cities dont even have to travel to Pittsburgh, The Northeast, or even ATL to experience outings like these.
Last edited by Southern Soul Bro; 10-31-2010 at 11:57 AM..
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