Apathy is rising and there is the danger of it ripping a tidal wave across Pittsburgh, socially, economically and politically.
It’s time to take a firm hold and transition away from the old style of leadership toward a new paradigm.
Black Pittsburghers have overvalued the role of politics for decades, believing it was the most direct route to economic advancement. Our leaders preached the message of electoral empowerment and we bought it without question.
While there are substantial reasons for people to vote, holding political office is the least relevant indicator of our progress (or lack thereof). It has not, for example, computed into our social or economic well-being.
The old guard has become too content with being symbols of Black political power. Indeed, it’s been a while since politicians at any level introduced new ideas to solve an expanding list of problems.
Politicians are only rarely pressured to match rhetoric with performance.
Crime statistics don’t lie. Our streets are not safe. Our elderly are in jeopardy.
And there’s widespread fright in our homes. Our growth industry is funeral homes, which bustle with the trafficking of victims of homicidal acts that strike down more young Black men than most dreaded diseases. We can’t imagine this kind of carnage taking place in any other community without outraged, responsible people rallying to take corrective action.
Police are hard-pressed to protect us, but cops can do very little about parental indifference and deficiencies in parental supervision. Too many parents have no concept of respect, responsibility and morality. How can they teach their children about right and wrong?
So who will protect us from future criminals that are born and bred in our neighborhoods, who grow up without fathers, without discipline and without moral bearings? They aren’t born with evil intent and perverse values; they learn them. Empty church pews create a gap so deep, even God cannot touch. Where the family has faltered, church communities have failed to fill the breach. Crime has turned flourishing commercial strips into literal wastelands. The trend for businesses, stressed and unprofitable, to close shop and move elsewhere remains uninterrupted. Some fled the disorder out of fear, others for survival.
Although economic power surely can enhance our political strength, we don’t pool our limited resources to form lasting business alliances.
What will it take for parents, religious, community and political leaders to rise up and say “enough”? One mayor or concerned representative cannot stand alone against morally impoverished politicians.
Times have changed, and what will be demanded of the next generation of residents and officeholders must reflect that change in constructive ways.
All of us must commit to be more than spectators to the political and social upheavals taking place around us. Thought-provoking voices must challenge the policies and practices of the old, tired stewards.
It won’t be easy. Any transition will usher in a period of heated debate and turmoil. One thing seems certain: Unless we wisely choose people with the ideas, qualifications and fervor to reverse these daunting trends, our future leaders will not just be known as the last caretakers of dying cities, but the murderers of our schools, neighborhoods and futures which will wither and perish from our neglect and indifference.
What is happening on the streets of Pittsburgh is not a conspiracy of any kind. “This is us, killing us.” It’s once again “us shaming and embarrassing us.”
How sad that an ignorant few are allowed to ruin the image of so many good, hard-working people.
