Whats going on with the racism in Brentwood? (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg: school districts, income)

[PreservationPioneer]

Something to keep in mind, but many intolerant older people like to encourage the "racist" reputations of certain areas (I grew up in a town in Michigan that was once known as a KKK area) in order to keep black people out of their towns, even if the racist reputation is unfounded or no longer accurate. I know that in Michigan, especially, areas populated by black people are unfortunately associated with cities like Detroit, and thus many white people see those areas as high-crime ghettos, even if they aren't, and blame the crime and other problems on skin color of the residents rather than other factors. This happens here in Pittsburgh. Many old-timers whisper to their neighbors about the "blacks" moving in, and blame all of a neighborhood's problems on skin color. I have witnessed this at least twice, once here in Stowe, and recently in Bellevue. So, you can see perhaps why certain neighborhoods may pride themselves on being "racist," as tragic as that is. In their minds they are just trying to maintain quality residents in the neighborhood, but unfortunately they associate black people with being the drug dealers and thugs of the neighborhood, even when it's not necessarily the case.

[wpipkins]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

How about Clairton, I'd say that town is in the 51 corridor and is majority black.

Clairton is probably less than 30% black. My mother and her 9 brothers and sisters were raised there from the late 30's through the 60's.

[simetime]

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

I'm not going to defend these kids because their actions are sickening, but I think the johnny gammage thing is way over played. That was like 15 years ago and it was the police that were involved in his death, not the residents. If Brentwood is racist because of that, then are the people of the hill, homewood, Arlington, beltzhoover, etc also racist when a black man is killed by Pittsburgh pd in their neighborhood?

If it had been a whiteman killed on the hill by racist black cops and one of them wanted to turn evidence on the actuall murderer and is drummed out of the police force and the actual murderer is promoted......how would you feel? To top it all off the he (viojtas) goes and murders someone else. Of course the black community would be enraged since it took years for a federal investigation to an apparent cop murder.

I guess a blackmans murder is not worth remembering in your book

[steindle]

It's hilarious to me that several people who routinely dismiss certain city neighborhoods as "bad" based upon anecdotal evidence...will not accept precisely that same level of evidence when it comes to the ASTONISHING possibility that certain areas of Allegheny County are more or less racist than others.

Is it so hard to understand that historical, demographic and geographical circumstance makes it a statistical inevitability that some areas are more racist than others? Take off your blinders. This is not some anomalous incident.

Pittsburgh Faces Ethnic Divisions - AP Online | HighBeam Research

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Robert Mitts, an 80-year-old retired welder, moved away from the Mount Oliver section of Pittsburgh a few years ago after he started to see blacks in the neighborhood.

Mitts, who is white, now lives in suburban Brentwood, which census figures indicate is populated almost entirely by whites.

``You know what you get if you go down there?'' he asked, pointing toward the city. Then he whispered, by way of answer, a derogatory term for blacks.

[PreservationPioneer]

Yeah, but have you ever been to Mt. Oliver? I would choose Brentwood, too. Nothing racist about it. It,s a clean, safe, well-kept neighborhood vs. an area filled with low-life ghetto trash. Sad, but true.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Yeah, but have you ever been to Mt. Oliver? I would choose Brentwood, too. Nothing racist about it. It,s a clean, safe, well-kept neighborhood vs. an area filled with low-life ghetto trash. Sad, but true.

Mt. Oliver, particularly in the back portions near St. Joseph's wasn't nearly as disfunctional 12 years ago when Mr. Mitts was interviewed on the topic.

[steindle]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Yeah, but have you ever been to Mt. Oliver? I would choose Brentwood, too. Nothing racist about it. It,s a clean, safe, well-kept neighborhood vs. an area filled with low-life ghetto trash. Sad, but true.

Yes. I grew up in Mount Oliver. Thank you.

I've previously enjoyed and respected your views on Western PA, but your characterization of my childhood neighborhood, and the area still populated by my parents and good friends, as "an area filled with low-life ghetto trash" has definitely changed my perspective.

Good luck to you.

[groar]

"an area filled with low life ghetto trash" = perfectly normal and often unquestioned description of a neighborhood on c-d.

"an area where a lot of people are very racist" = WHAT, HOW COULD ANYONE SAY THAT ABOUT A PLACE???

i agree with steindle, alleghenyangel - i thought you of all people were better than that.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

I can confidently say that I live in a neighborhood filled with low-life ghetto trash without making myself upset. Reality: sometimes it's inconvenient.

[SuburbanPioneer]

Originally Posted by steindle

Yes. I grew up in Mount Oliver. Thank you.

I've previously enjoyed and respected your views on Western PA, but your characterization of my childhood neighborhood, and the area still populated by my parents and good friends, as "an area filled with low-life ghetto trash" has definitely changed my perspective.

Good luck to you.

Many people who grew up in currently deteriorating neighborhoods but moved out before it started to go downhill are in denial of the deterioration process and still want to believe that their childhood neighborhoods are great. It does take a decade or two before these same people would post something like "I can't believe what happened to my childhood neighborhood."