White Silence on the Forum with: Pittsburgh's Unsolved Black Youth Violence... Maybe for the better? (Wilkinsburg: violent crime, neighborhood)

[gg]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

I'm not silent in real life. I just don't want to talk about it on here, so I am silently raising my fist in solidarity and then moving on from this thread.

I am the opposite at this point and am silent about it. I only can give reasons why the white community is silent and I feel they should be silent and not get involved. Look at what Wendy Bell had happen to her for speaking out against the violence and showing how sad she was and hopeless she felt. She had her career ended and fast. That message showed me what reality is like. Best to hope for a grass roots solution and stay out of it. Nothing good could come from any white person getting involved with any of it.

Wishing everyone in those communities the best and I do feel things will turn because the community is growing tired of the violence. I think a grass roots movement is upon us and looking forward to reading about it someday, but from the distance that people in those communities want me to stay.

[Yac]

As the thread continues I have to, for a change, say kudos for discussing a serious topic in a serious manner. I don't think many other forums here could handle it so well. So far at least
Just my 2c. Carry on!
Yac.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by gg

It is a generalization which isn't enough. We would need to post statistics with hard facts. From my experience, I can say you are correct, but it still is only a generalization, because I know a lot of blacks born here who work very hard. Not a lot, but they are out there. Love the island black folks I work with. They are always so upbeat, happy and work hard. i think they just appreciate the opportunities in the USA. Lots of smiles. Great stuff and a breath of fresh air.

from my experience, i agree with dorothy. that is not only towards african americans, but others in this country. immigrants from Africa (again, from personal observation/life experience) have a different mindset than the average american. they are simple of heart, quiet, determined. one might say that of east asian immigrants.

by comparison, americans are entitled, weak, over indulged and pampered, quick to anger, and condescending to do crappy jobs, unless they HAVE to after a stint in prison.

generalizations, sure. but west africans, and ethiopians DO have different mores and ways.

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

I am one of many working tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of children. There are black men throughout this city working on behalf of our children. For every child shot in the street there are hundreds that want to do good. All the black children that I know are on their way to college. We only focus on the negatives among us when there are black children doing amazing things. Black people have always been exceptional artists. There are some artistic young black kids doing amazing things in this city. Look up programs offered by CMU, 100 Black Men of SW Pennsylvania, Jack and Jill just to name a few. I love my people and only focus on the good.

Good news is not news unfortunately. We need also to change the way we receive news and not just focus on the bad news. Shock gets headlines.
All children need positive people in their lives so they can grow and become positive, successful adults. You are doing an awesome job and these kids are so lucky to have people like you in their lives.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

Good points, sure. But NO, there would not be this "silence" (in this forum) if this was happening in the "new Pittsburgh". Why? Because that is NEWS! Get it? It would be odd, don't you think, if crossfire weapons are discharging across Bakery Square. What, the people scouting a location for Amazon were ambushed by Google-ites?

Sorry, but that is the reality. I personally am saddened by the descent into gang warfare, after more than a decade of declining violence and improving cop-community relationships, in the Hill especially.

I can't believe Peduto is not being held to task, actually, for addressing the recent spikes in shootings.

are you surprised about peduto? this is the guy that gave the olive branch to uber for committing 50k over two years to buy some books in pittsburgh. it's about the easy wins.

[Mtl-Cns]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

Do you realize that inner city black families are moving to the Eastern suburbs. All of my friends with the exception of two moved from the city to the Eastern suburbs of Penn Hills, Plum, Churchill, Monroeville, Wilkins and beyond. Not to mention the southern migration. Black people either move to the suburbs or out of the metro all together. Name a city that suffered the catastrophic job loss that Pittsburgh has. Black people were the last hired and first fired. We simply went on to greener pastures.

Yes I do realize that but the data in the article is from 2010-2015, it's not really about the collapse of industry or the economy 20-30 years ago. Anecdotally, though, I can also attest to recent moves from the city to the north hills by several of my black friends. All but two, actually, left the city and the two that remain in the city are living in Garfield.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Mtl-Cns

Yes I do realize that but the data in the article is from 2010-2015, it's not really about the collapse of industry or the economy 20-30 years ago. Anecdotally, though, I can also attest to recent moves from the city to the north hills by several of my black friends. All but two, actually, left the city and the two that remain in the city are living in Garfield.

To be clear though, this is the norm even in cities with much larger black populations than we have. Cleveland for example has a much larger and more visible black middle class than we do, but it's mostly located in eastern suburbs like Shaker Heights.


To the best of my knowledge, the only largish middle-class black urban enclaves (basically the "buppie" neighborhoods) are in NYC, Chicago, DC, and arguably Atlanta (though it has few really urban neighborhoods).

[sky329]

Originally Posted by gg

I am the opposite at this point and am silent about it. I only can give reasons why the white community is silent and I feel they should be silent and not get involved. Look at what Wendy Bell had happen to her for speaking out against the violence and showing how sad she was and hopeless she felt. She had her career ended and fast. That message showed me what reality is like. Best to hope for a grass roots solution and stay out of it. Nothing good could come from any white person getting involved with any of it.

Wishing everyone in those communities the best and I do feel things will turn because the community is growing tired of the violence. I think a grass roots movement is upon us and looking forward to reading about it someday, but from the distance that people in those communities want me to stay.

if you have to say wendy bell's name when speaking about black people, you should ask yourself a question...


We don't care about her and bringing her up out of nowhere seems racist and odd

[Copanut]

I was going to make this a separate thread but seems applicable here. My wife and I attended the Motown show at the Benedum a few weeks ago Incredible talent on the stage. I grew up in the 60’s when the Motown Sound hit, but I had forgotten all the stars that Berry Gordy discovered alongwith the great songs of that era. But I couldn’t help but think that even after 50 years I think race relations are at an all time low. The race riots of thelate 60’s, the Hill District fires in 68, shooting of MLK Two songs performed that night, Ball of Confusion and Mercy, Mercy, Me are still relevant. Oneline from B of C, sale of pills at an alltime high , sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Ah, the old French axiom, The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Uptown kid]

Originally Posted by eschaton

To be clear though, this is the norm even in cities with much larger black populations than we have. Cleveland for example has a much larger and more visible black middle class than we do, but it's mostly located in eastern suburbs like Shaker Heights.


To the best of my knowledge, the only largish middle-class black urban enclaves (basically the "buppie" neighborhoods) are in NYC, Chicago, DC, and arguably Atlanta (though it has few really urban neighborhoods).

Here's what Forbes said:
1. Atlanta
2. Raleigh
3. Washington D.C.- near by MD-VA
4. tied Baltimore
4. tied Charolette
6 Virginia Beach
7. Orlando
8. tied Miami
8. tied Richmond
8. tied San Antonio
Austin (11th), Houston (12th) and Dallas-Fort Worth (13th).
LA, NYC, Chicago are all very visible, however most of the "top ranked" are in the South, like wpipkins2 said.
All of these places above have high Black median household incomes and higher home ownership rates...

That being said, Forbes also says this: "

Many of the metro areas at the bottom of our list are the once mighty manufacturing hubs where Southern blacks flocked in the Great Migration: last place Milwaukee, followed by Grand Rapids, Mich.; Cincinnati (50th); Pittsburgh (tied for 48th) Cleveland (47th) and Buffalo (46th). African-Americans in these old industrial towns earn on average $10,000 to $15,000 less than their counterparts in Atlanta. Self-employment rates are half as high as those in our top 10 cities.

Of course, none of this is too surprising, given the long-term economic malaise in the Rust Belt. But some of our most prosperous metro areas are also not working out well for blacks. These include San Francisco-Oakland, which tied with Pittsburgh for 48th, Los Angeles (40th) and Seattle (36th). In these cities, homeownership rates for African-Americans tend to be 10 to 15 percentage points lower, and self-employment close to half of what we see in greater Washington, Atlanta, Raleigh, Charlotte and the four big Texas cities.

Blacks populations have declined in some of these metro areas, including San Francisco, which has seen a 9.1% drop since 2000, and Los Angeles, where the African-American population has fallen 8%. Chicago (31st), long a major center of black America, has seen a 4% drop since 2000, while the black population of the New York metro area (24th) has grown just 2.4%.

However, Pittsburgh's Black Upper Middle-Upper Class does exist though they are scattered, primarily in some of the more popular wealthy suburbs.
READ THIS:
Pittsburgh's Black Middle Class | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
There are also stable/historic lower-upper middle class Black population enclaves in the following: Garden City area Monroeville, Point Breeze North, southern Staton Heights, Chartiers City, Windgap, Schenley Heights section of Upper Hill, Finland Street area Upper Hill, Edwart Drive-Avalon St-Brackenridge Street (where Terrace Village meets Upper Hill), Broadcrest Drive in Upper Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, Highland Park, Friendship, Marshall Avenue and Columbia Park (enclave in Perry Hilltop). Also parts of: Wilkinsburg (BlackRidge, Beacon Hill upper Laketon), Penn Hills, Lower East Hills, East Liberty, Observatory Hill, Brighton Heights, Lower Manchester, Lower Hill, Swissvale, Churchill etc.
See here: The City's Hidden Black Middle Class Sections Map
A few of the older oldest ones still live and will die in their homes in certain blocks of: Homewood North, Sheraden, Beltzhoover, Knoxville, Sugar Top, the Hill, Lincoln-Lemington, parts of Wilkinsburg, uppermost Homestead, south Swissvale, North Braddock, Clairton. As at one point theses place had many middle class Black households, that ended from the Dr. King riots to around the crack-epidemic. Now many of those homeowners are dying off and the homes are being gutted.