Is pittsburgh extremely racist?? (Washington, Uniontown: house, where to buy, living in)

[Veyron]

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

At one time, when the Pittsburgh area was inundated with steel mills, and the attraction for many immigrants was the ability to be employed quickly. There were high paying/ minimal- education- needed jobs readily available. These groups of "new residents" established the neighborhoods based upon their countries of origin. There are/were areas of the Pittsburgh region that reflected the Italians, the Polish, the Irish, the Germans, the Jewish, the African-American, etc. that still may exist to a certain degree today.... but times change , and inter-marriage caused even more blending of the groups. These neighborhoods may may convey segments of their ethnic heritage, but the influences are significantly minimized.

Fast forward to 2013.... and this coming from a guy who was strongly influenced by the ethnic segregation advocated by his parents.... I live in suburbia, and I would welcome you to be my neighbor, regardless of your race, religion, and/or sexual orientation. As long as you could afford it, I would not hesitate to rent you any of my rental properties. I would be not hesitate to patronize your business on the basis of your work quality, not the color of your skin.

I believe that most people in Pittsburgh have similar views as me, that being, the quality of a person has nothing to do with his/her race, religion, or sexual orientation. Those calling a whole city racist are deluded by generalities, not reality. The bottom line is that Pittsburgh is no longer a city/region dominated by the smoking stench of its steel mill history. It is a vibrant, twenty-first century city that treasures its heritage, but is willing to grow beyond it. I predict that after a year, or so, of relocating here, you will experience the positiveness of the majority that will far override the prejudices of the select few. The very best of luck in your move, and welcome!

Thanks for the welcome.

Like I said, I'm hoping to advance my career, make an honest living, further my education and maybe make a few friends. I'm hoping everything will fall into place.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Drover

He's moving to Pittsburgh FFS, not China.

Black Americans have a different culture than white Americans. Yes, the two are closely intertwined, and they have been throughout history, but I think it's silly to deny that.

Out of curiosity, exactly what percentage of your own social network is black?

[Drover]

Yeah sorry, I'm not walking into that "heads you win tails I lose" trap where I'm considered a racist if I say "I have black friends" and considered a racist if I don't have black friends. So I'll leave you to guess: 0%, 20%, 50%, 80%, take your pick.

I'm done with this thread. Best of luck to you Veyron whether you end up in Pittsburgh or Uniontown or some place in between. My final piece of advice: if you do end up in Pittsburgh stick to the East End or the tunnel backups will make for a murderous commute.

[Veyron]

Originally Posted by eschaton

No offense, but you're coming off kind of culturally insensitive here.

Put it this way. If you were moving to China, would you want to have a few American friends in your social network to show you the ropes, or would you just delve right into just having Chinese friends?

Edit: Are there any stable black-majority parts of Clairton? It strikes me it would be pretty ideally located for the OP, traveling between Uniontown for work and Pittsburgh for school.

Exactly.

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by eschaton

No offense, but you're coming off kind of culturally insensitive here.

Put it this way. If you were moving to China, would you want to have a few American friends in your social network to show you the ropes, or would you just delve right into just having Chinese friends?

Edit: Are there any stable black-majority parts of Clairton? It strikes me it would be pretty ideally located for the OP, traveling between Uniontown for work and Pittsburgh for school.

I'm not an expert on Clairton at all, but I once went to check out houses there, wanting to give the area the benefit of the doubt, kind of like I did with Penn Hills (I don't trust the upper middle class, white bias of internet opinions)... and even from my perspective, it was awful. There are no amenities there, its downtown belongs to some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland, and it's a ***** to get anywhere else. It looked to me like there were some okay parts of town where there were some okay houses and good people living there (the actual houses we looked at were quite nice actually), but I couldn't foresee that area going anywhere but down. It just reeks of hopelessness.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Drover

Yeah sorry, I'm not walking into that "heads you win tails I lose" trap where I'm considered a racist if I say "I have black friends" and considered a racist if I don't have black friends. So I'll leave you to guess: 0%, 20%, 50%, 80%, take your pick.

I'm done with this thread.

I wasn't accusing you of being a racist. I was saying that most white people typically do not have many (if any) close black friends. This isn't really a function of racism, this is a function of black culture still being to a great degree separate from white culture. In general, we hang out in different places, listen to different music, eat at different restaurants, etc. The divide is getting a bit weaker with every generation, but it's there.

If the OP moved to Pittsburgh and just made friends with whoever he could find, almost all his friends are liable to be white - particularly in Fayette County, which is much whiter than here. Thus he'd not have people to talk about his experiences with racism, for example, who would relate. Or who knew where to find a good black barber. Or whatever.

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by Drover

Yeah sorry, I'm not walking into that "heads you win tails I lose" trap where I'm considered a racist if I say "I have black friends" and considered a racist if I don't have black friends. So I'll leave you to guess: 0%, 20%, 50%, 80%, take your pick.

I'm done with this thread.

It's not a heads/tails thing. A person can be non-racist but still be completely oblivious to their privilege, which is what your posts indicate you are. It's not up to individual black people (nor black people as a collective) to heal the racial divide, when they're the ones who are systematically oppressed and don't bear the responsibility for that. Black people have to navigate that reality every day, and that reality just isn't changing that much. Blaming an individual black person for wanting the security of the familiar, or to be around people who actually can empathize with them, when they're having to deal with the garbage of a far-too-racist society is ridiculous.

[Retiredcoach]

Originally Posted by Veyron

Thanks for the welcome.

Like I said, I'm hoping to advance my career, make an honest living, further my education and maybe make a few friends. I'm hoping everything will fall into place.

You have definitely chosen a career path loaded with potential and opportunity. The community college of Allegheny County is a great bargain, and could serve as a launching pad for further advancement. Your only limitations will be those that you place upon yourself. You might be greatly surprised by the fact that anticipating racism may act as a self-fulfilling prophecy- expecting it to occur may forever interfere limit your ability to achieve your dreams. Good luck!

[Veyron]

Originally Posted by sparrowmint

I'm not an expert on Clairton at all, but I once went to check out houses there, wanting to give the area the benefit of the doubt, kind of like I did with Penn Hills (I don't trust the upper middle class, white bias of internet opinions)... and even from my perspective, it was awful. There are no amenities there, its downtown belongs to some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland, and it's a ***** to get anywhere else. It looked to me like there were some okay parts of town where there were some okay houses and good people living there (the actual houses we looked at were quite nice actually), but I couldn't foresee that area going anywhere but down. It just reeks of hopelessness.

Do you feel like the other information they provided was accurate?

[Veyron]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I wasn't accusing you of being a racist. I was saying that most white people typically do not have many (if any) close black friends. This isn't really a function of racism, this is a function of black culture still being to a great degree separate from white culture. In general, we hang out in different places, listen to different music, eat at different restaurants, etc. The divide is getting a bit weaker with every generation, but it's there.

If the OP moved to Pittsburgh and just made friends with whoever he could find, almost all his friends are liable to be white - particularly in Fayette County, which is much whiter than here. Thus he'd not have people to talk about his experiences with racism, for example, who would relate. Or who knew where to find a good black barber. Or whatever.

Exactly. x2