<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div class="container font-size5 content-width3">
<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="http://www.latinorebels.com/2018/11/03/pittsburghracism/">http://www.latinorebels.com/2018/11/03/pittsburghracism/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Pittsburgh: The Dead End of Racism
Tolerance</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">By: Hugo Marín González -
November 3, 2018<br>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="content">
<div class="moz-reader-content line-height4 reader-show-element">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page">
<div>
<p>A week ago today, Pittsburgh was the sad scenario of a
ruthless crime: the hate-driven racist Tree of Life
synagogue murders of 11 members of the city’s Jewish
community in the historic Squirrel Hill neighborhood. In
a small-sized city with almost 70% of the population
white Caucasian, a tendency to legitimize equal rights
seems to distort their collective sense of proportion
when self-defining the boundaries of racism.</p>
<p>The world was astonished by the tragic events that took
place inside the Tree of Life last Saturday. Now, we
should take time to reflect on the impact a city’s own
culture of acceptance and tolerance for white supremacy
and hate are influential in perpetuating systemic
racism.</p>
<p>In recent years, Pittsburgh has become a hip
destination for young professionals for its solid
economy and affordable cost of living. It is home to a
vibrant arts and music scene, overall a far cry from the
city’s steel mill industrial past. It is a sports-loving
town with a blue collar pride. The media portrays the
city as an example of what the United States of America
truly represents.</p>
<p>Yet inside a local hot dog shop near Squirrel Hill, a
paper sign taped on a wall tells residents to be aware
of a violent group of neo-Nazi skinheads. According to
the sign, this group has been physically attacking
people and also actively recruiting new members around
the city. They are the Pittsburgh chapter of the
Keystone State Skinheads, a Pennsylvania-based white
supremacist group. Unlike faceless hooded Ku Klux Klan
members, skinheads in Pittsburgh are not afraid or
ashamed to show their swastika armbands. On the
contrary, they seem to wear them with pride. Some
members are staple customers at taverns and bars
associated with the punk rock scene. The word on the
street is that their goal is to intimidate and drive
away customers of color to maintain “safe white spaces.”</p>
<div id="attachment_54251" class="wp-caption">
<p><img data-attachment-id="54251"
data-permalink="http://www.latinorebels.com/2018/11/03/pittsburghracism/img-20181027-wa0003/"
data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG-20181027-WA0003.jpg?fit=768%2C1024"
data-orig-size="768,1024" data-comments-opened="1"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="IMG-20181027-WA0003"
data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG-20181027-WA0003.jpg?fit=450%2C600"
data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG-20181027-WA0003.jpg?fit=525%2C700"
src="https://i0.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG-20181027-WA0003.jpg?resize=768%2C1024"
alt="" height="818" width="613"></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">(Photo by J. Wagner)</p>
</div>
<p>A few years ago, while I was living in Pittsburgh’s
South Side, I was more than shocked to witness how it is
socially acceptable to be a neo-Nazi identified by
swastika armbands or t-shirts. Somehow they managed to
comfortably get normal service at regular bars and
restaurants all over the neighborhood. Ironically,
including at a Mexican-themed restaurant called Iguana
Grill.</p>
<p>One random night, on my way to have an after-work
drink, I walked to a popular neighborhood bar in close
proximity to my house called the Smiling Moose. As I
approached the place, I saw a group of about six
swastika-wearing skinheads walk into the bar. When I got
to the door and concerned about my safety (dark brown
skin and Puerto Rican with an accent), I inquired the
bouncer about the presence of skinheads. He explained to
me how neo-Nazis were hard working-class citizens who
have the right to be served there. I turned around and
slowly walked away, having just learned that in this
city, the Nazi right to express their beliefs by
intimidating imagery representative of violent death and
racial hatred was more important than my personal
safety.</p>
<p>Although many white residents share a collective
progressive notion which rejects racism, there is also a
validation for the right to the freedom of speech and
artistic expression—allowing an open space for white
supremacy and racism to become rationally acceptable.</p>
<h2>Pittsburgh’s Real Soul?</h2>
<p>In an attempt to modernize their image by recognizing
the LGBTQ community, every June 12 Pittsburgh
celebrates what they call “Sharon Needles Day.”. Since
2012 the day is dedicated to honor the career of drag
queen performer Aaron Coady, better known by the stage
name, Sharon Needles. Needles gained national notoriety
after their participation on the popular TV show “Drag
Race.” Along with their success outside the TV show,
Sharon’s career has been tainted by use of swastikas
during stage performances, constant racist remarks and
the repeated use of the “N” word. Despite the
controversy and under heavy criticism from local members
of the LGBTQ community who felt Needles was not
representative of them, the city council made “Sharon
Needles Day” an official event. Today, it is still a
common occurrence for trans people to be the target of
violence and harassment from conservative white male
residents.</p>
<p>In the heart of the trendy, hipster neighborhood of
Lawrenceville, right on a corner wall at the
intersection of 46th Street and Butler Street, a sign
says that immigrants are criminals. For the people of
Pittsburgh, seeing this kind of sign is as normal as
seeing a Pepsi ad, a regular part of everyday life
oftentimes ignored. This sign however was not to be
overlooked. At the bottom of the sign, taking credit for
the propaganda, was the organization “Blood and Soil,” a
part of the “Patriot Front,” a solid national network of
anti-Semitic white supremacists.</p>
<div id="attachment_54252" class="wp-caption">
<p><img data-attachment-id="54252"
data-permalink="http://www.latinorebels.com/2018/11/03/pittsburghracism/fb_img_1540656503499/"
data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FB_IMG_1540656503499.jpg?fit=480%2C640"
data-orig-size="480,640" data-comments-opened="1"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="FB_IMG_1540656503499"
data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FB_IMG_1540656503499.jpg?fit=450%2C600"
data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FB_IMG_1540656503499.jpg?fit=480%2C640"
src="https://i1.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FB_IMG_1540656503499.jpg?resize=480%2C640"
alt="" height="640" width="480"></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">(Photo by T. Samilson)</p>
</div>
<p>For years, I have been a city correspondent for <em>La
Jornada Latina</em>, the only newspaper reporting in
Spanish for Pittsburgh’s Latino community. Last month,
before the Squirrel Hill tragedy, I published an article
making the Spanish-speaking community aware of the
existence of these threatening campaign signs. For that
story, I interviewed a city police officer who told me
that he did not find the signs threatening.</p>
<p>Those words still stick to me today, one week after
Squirrel Hill.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh is trying to heal and it deserves to heal.
However, the city should learn how to eradicate any
practice that re-centers white people in conversations
about racism. We face unique issues that go unaddressed
in a city that fails to acknowledge the disadvantages of
vulnerable groups. In the end, this city continues to
reinforce racism by further blurring the marginalization
of those of us who are not white.</p>
<p>That needs to stop.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p><em>Hugo Marín González is a Puerto Rican linguist and
a journalist. A regular correspondent for La Jornada
Latina in Pittsburgh, he holds a B.A. in Hispanic
Linguistics from the Inter-American University of
Puerto Rico in San German.</em></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://freedomarchives.org/">https://freedomarchives.org/</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>