Pittsburgh Misconceptions (Indiana, Denver, Republic: dorms, schools, university)

[Tallysmom]

As a person who is from Pittsburgh and now lives in Oakland CA, as diverse a place as you can get -- I don't see what the hullabaloo is all about. Diversity doesn't make a place better, and you can find people that are open to anything any where.

After the bout of racism that I've encountered in the past few months (none directed to me and all of it from people who should know better) I'm thinking the lonely cave on the mountaintop sounds pretty good.

Diversity brings it's own set of problems to the table....

[SueJ999]

I'm reading this and laughing... Does diversity only mean only non-whites?

When I moved from Pittsburgh to Central Minnesota, I was in total shock as to how white a place can really be (very much like those stats on Fargo, ND)! I'd say at the minimum, 90% are German, Norweigan, or Swedish. I went home to Pittsburgh for a high school reunion a couple years ago, and my husband was laughing at me--I couldn't believe how many brunettes were there! I've been out here (not by my choice--it's a spouse thing ) for quite a few years, and I have yet to meet anyone Italian or Polish or more than just a fraction Irish!

So is diversity having people speaking different languages? Is it a difference of religions? Is it a difference of skin color? Is it a difference of hair color?

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by SueJ999

So is diversity having people speaking different languages? Is it a difference of religions? Is it a difference of skin color? Is it a difference of hair color?

Yeah...I thought about getting into that, but decided against it. There's only so many battles you can fight. I think that for any agreement to be reached about this issue, the first thing that would have to happen is that we would have to come to an accord on what the definition of diversity is. Several posters in this thread seem to think it doesn't mean black people. I find that odd, but didn't want to nitpick about that. I personally think that the definition should include things like different cultures among caucasians, like "goth" and "country", as well as political differences. Pittsburgh is quite Democratic, and in that sense it isn't very diverse politically, but I didn't hear anyone mention that. And what about hair color, like you said? That's an interesting point. There are places in the world, like Japan, where absolutely everyone looks alike. There are no redheads or blondes, or different shades of brown. Now THAT'S non-diversity!

[Drover]

Well whatever the accepted definition of "diversity" is, I can't help but notice that those places described (usually self-described) as "diverse" are often so ideologically monolithic that I have to wonder how much conformity is required to be considered part of the Diversity Club.

[claremarie]

So is diversity having people speaking different languages? Is it a difference of religions? Is it a difference of skin color? Is it a difference of hair color?



Well, you could use language, or skin color, or having been born outside the US, or even having been born outside Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh would fail on all but one count. And it fails completely if skin color means something other than white or black.
Some people don't like diversity, because they are more comfortable living around people who look and talk just like they do. They don't want to make the extra effort necessary to understand the Korean dry cleaner, or the Indian convenience store clerk, or the Pakistani cab driver. They don't want to eat "foreign" food when they go to a restaurant. They don't want to pay the higher school taxes necessary to educate children whose first language is not English.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Drover

Well whatever the accepted definition of "diversity" is, I can't help but notice that those places described (usually self-described) as "diverse" are often so ideologically monolithic that I have to wonder how much conformity is required to be considered part of the Diversity Club.

I see you've been to San Francisco?

[pghlibrarian]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

I see you've been to San Francisco?

One thing I found odd about the Bay Area (and I'm talking about the parts that AREN'T in the city of SF proper) is how anti-gay and lesbian that they could be. I found by home town of Buffalo, and Pittsburgh, and DC and Baltimore to be much more tolerant than those in the SF suburbs.

I was once almost run off the road while someone screamed an off-color gay epithet and flipped me the bird in Fremont (my car had a "pride" sticker on it)and was screamed at by a well-dressed African-American woman in Oakland who wanted to remind me that I was going to hell, among other things. In all the time my partner and I have been in Pittsburgh, we have never been made to feel unwelcome, and that's saying something.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by pghlibrarian

One thing I found odd about the Bay Area (and I'm talking about the parts that AREN'T in the city of SF proper) is how anti-gay and lesbian that they could be. I found by home town of Buffalo, and Pittsburgh, and DC and Baltimore to be much more tolerant than those in the SF suburbs.

I was once almost run off the road while someone screamed an off-color gay epithet and flipped me the bird in Fremont (my car had a "pride" sticker on it)and was screamed at by a well-dressed African-American woman in Oakland who wanted to remind me that I was going to hell, among other things. In all the time my partner and I have been in Pittsburgh, we have never been made to feel unwelcome, and that's saying something.

I find that amazing... not in a good way. And I'm sorry it happened.

I'm not sure if I mentioned on this thread, but I did somewhere that I've run into some big racist attitudes here -- stuff that I would equate with the Antibellum South of the pre-civil war in Hollywood movies that are trying to drive home a point with a really big hammer racist attitudes... it really has me rethinking this kinder gentler, more tolerant Bay Area I thought we lived in.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Drover

Well whatever the accepted definition of "diversity" is, I can't help but notice that those places described (usually self-described) as "diverse" are often so ideologically monolithic that I have to wonder how much conformity is required to be considered part of the Diversity Club.

Care to elaborate on that? Just what cities are you talking about?

[RockLobster]

Latino diversity travels the major north-south highways across the nation.-Wash DC and N Va=I-95 and you have to have job opportunity. Pittsburgh lacks both. I-79 does not cut it and we have fewer ag jobs and those types of jobs immigrants migrate towards. Things may change as even the trade unions are predicting a shortage of employees soon for Pittsburgh. predicted slow economic growth coupled with a steady outmigration in the past has left us bare bones.