Terri White (assistant director of development at Carnegie Science Center) replied to the “Where are the Black middle class?” question and says, “Pittsburgh’s Black middle class exists: they aren’t as large a group in other places (for various reasons) but they are here. The problem is that if you don’t know one of them, you don’t know any of them––that’s Pittsburgh’s old school mentality that most people moving to the city don’t prescribe to. Every article about Black people in Pittsburgh talks about the lack of events or things to do outside of hanging out at bars. Yet, as you stated, the Courier always has articles about events and shindigs that the Black middle class has hosted. So where is the disconnect? Why do we see the same 100-150 people at everything? I have a few theories, but my biggest observation as a native that moved away and then moved back is that we as a city—but especially as African Americans—do an absolutely terrible job of letting people know what’s going on in a reasonable amount of time for people to decide if they want to participate.”
There is a Black middle class in Pittsburgh and they don’t all live in one area. If you are new to the city, one thing that I will recommend is to start reading the New Pittsburgh Courier before you get here so you can see what your brothers and sisters are doing. Get involved.
(Email the columnist at debbienorrell@aol.com)
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