Vol. 71/No. 31      September 3, 2007

The event drew nearly 50 people and was initiated by OneHOOD, a loose grouping of clergy and community activists. The sponsors noted in their call for the meeting that Pittsburgh was recently declared “America’s Most Livable City.” The reality, they added, “begs one to question: ‘Most Livable for Whom?’”

A recent University of Pittsburgh study found that conditions for Blacks here are generally worse than for African Americans nationally. Unemployment for Black men is 17 percent compared to 8 percent for white males. Nearly one quarter of Blacks in the United States live below the official poverty level; the figure is 34 percent in Pittsburgh.

More than a dozen speakers presented proposals for combating racism, offering a range of views. Some placed their emphasis on ending “Black-on-Black crime,” often blaming Black youth or their parents for violence within the community. A few pointed to the need to educate youth on the legacy of Black rights leaders such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.

Socialist candidate Ryan Scott was the only mayoral contender to address the event. Neither Democratic incumbent Luke Ravenstahl nor Republican Mark DeSantis sent representatives to the meeting.

“The problems of unemployment, poor education, and high rates of homicide in the Black community are fundamentally caused by capitalism,” Scott said.

“Pittsburgh is not ‘our’ city. It is a class-divided city, in which Blacks bear the brunt of the attacks on the working class. The capitalist rulers use racism to divide working people, and to superexploit workers who are Black,” he said. The University of Pittsburgh study showed that workers as a whole are worse off in this city in terms of joblessness and income than nationally.

The socialist pointed to the centrality of organizing unions and using them to defend working people, including in the fight against racist discrimination. He also underlined the common interests of working people worldwide and demanded that Washington immediately withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We oppose the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on school desegregation, an attack that will be used to keep Black students in inferior schools,” Scott said. “We call for defending and extending affirmative action in employment, education, and housing.”

Scott denounced Mayor Ravenstahl’s effort to increase the number of cops in Black neighborhoods. “We don’t need more cops,” he said. “We need to fight cop brutality, abolish the death penalty, and prosecute and jail killer cops!”

Scott pointed to the example being set today by immigrant workers through their struggles against deportations, cop harassment, and racist discrimination, as well as for better job conditions.
 
 
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