Homewood in the news; the Inbox

11:41 AM 4/21/2008

Monday, April 21, 2008

By Elwin Green, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Homewood in the news:

• in a good way;

• not so good.

Real Estate Watch

This week's RealSTATs report lists three transactions in the 13th Ward, all for under $10,000:

7140 Apple Ave., for $6,000

7019 Idlewild Street (no picture available), for $1,900

1069 Stoneville Street, for $3,000

From the Inbox:

I recently purchased property in homewood, and I hate all of the negative attention it gets. My house is beautiful and my street is very quite. The property surrounding the area is not cleaned, the empty lots are filled with trash. I call over and over to the 311 which is the Mayor's hotline to see if they can come out and clean the lot next to me, however it's in vain. I recently decided that my family and I will clean the lot up and make sure it stays that way. I believe that if each person takes pride it the appearance of their property homewoods appearance will not be so distressed. In life if we want others to respect our community, even the folks that may already live there, we have to do our part. -- Ronna, Homewood

Ronna, I just spoke with Councilman Burgess' chief of staff, Shawn Carter, and he said that anyone at the councilman's office, 412 255 2137, would be glad to help you with that vacant lot situation. Thanks for writing. I hope your street stays quiet and safe.

I read the My Homewood section every now and then just to see what is going on and I found it a little odd that you attacked someone for generalizing a group of people by saying "you people". You seemed truly offended by that, yet I've never seen you have an issue with all of the anti-white statements I've seen posted.

I won't pretend that there are racist people in Pittsburgh, and I won't pretend to know what it's like to be discriminated against, but a lot of times it seems to be the excuse for everthing wrong in everyones life.

I've seen plenty of posts about not wanting "White folk" to buy up property in Homewood. Not wanting a family dollar with a white manager. There were too many to count that had to deal with "the white man won't give me a job". Sounds like some generalizations to me.

By the way, while reading a lot of those posts about the racist bosses, I noticed quite a bit of misspelled words and horrible grammar. Perhaps there were other reasons those people were not hired. Not everything is racism. -- Paul O., Edgewood

Thanks for writing. Not everything is racism? I agree.

In the case of Paul F.'s first posting, I tried to make it clear that I was not attacking him; I simply challenged the "you people" statement as a generalization and asked him to clarify it.

I have also challenged people who have an issue with not wanting "white folk" to buy property in Homewood, by saying that it shouldn't/doesn't matter who buys property in Homewood, as long as they are good neighbors (i.e., responsible owners).

The posting with the comment about Family Dollar having a white or black manager was simply one of many that I don't respond to because of time constraints. Actually, I don't respond to most postings; and when I do respond a posting, I don't always respond to every single point made in that posting - mainly because of time.

The postings about employment issues have been (mostly? entirely?) from folks describing their own experiences. If someone puts in a bunch of job applications and doesn't get hired, and if the people doing the hiring are white, then is a description of that experience a generalization? Or is it just a description of their experience?

To Paul F: To read your rants and raves are at best amusing and worst a waste of time. You continually talk about "you people", quit whining and complaining, etc. How about this Paul; get a life. I moved from Pittsburgh in 1997 (growing up in Homewood) when it was so bad that wearing the wrong color on any street can get you shot. I remember having to get in before dark, and yes the people on my particular block were COLLEGE educated, hard working, and were active in the community on many levels. To state that black people need to get out in ther community and take back the streets sounds like the people where I currently reside (Williamsburg, VA) who have actually stated that there is no gang problem. Yes, I live in a national tourist destination, and as a black man, I have a middle class lifestyle in the SOUTH (near Richmond, VA former capital of the Confederacy that fought to keep slavery alive). My children attend one of the top 3 public schools in the state of Virginia and I have no college degree. I make pretty good money and am able to provide for my family. And yes, I started at the bottom (as you so wisely suggested). Your lack of compassion and understanding and real knowledge of Homewood makes you look real stupid and ignorant. Here's a challenge to you Pual, move your family to Homewood and stay for about 5 years and then you will have earned the right to comment on Homewood and its problems. Until then, I would ask you not to comment (but we know you will). So what's up Paul, when are you moving to Homewood to live? Please let the Post-Gazette audience know. -- Robert M., Williamsburg, Va.

Robert M. is addressing Paul F., so I could simply duck while they fire at each other.

But I don't think that's why any of us are here. I think, I hope, that we're trying to understand each other better.

Robert M., you suggested that Paul F. walk a mile in your shoes, so to speak. I think we all know that that's pretty unlikely. But there may be a more workable way for him to understand you better - and vice versa

So I'm going to ask a huge favor of you both, knowing up front that you absolutely don't have to do it and may not want to. All I'm doing is asking.

I'd like for each of you to just take a deep breath, and think about the other man for a moment, and ask yourself this question: "What question can I ask him that will help me to understand him better?" And when you come up with a question, ask it.

How well this works will depend on the willingness to answer questions, as well.

I am going to try using that question myself, on myself, when somebody says something here that leaves me perplexed and/or angry. I invite others to try it, too.

PENNSYLVANIANS, VOTE TOMORROW!! (unless you're Independent, or something)

First published on April 21, 2008 at 3:44 pm