Hispanics in Pitt (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg, Washington: to buy, moving to, yard)

[creepsinc]

Originally Posted by Sunil's Dad

I'm not disagreeing with you one bit. The only reason I mentioned the Japanese immigrants especially, is to signify that the cookies were of Japanese origin even though it was Americans in America who created them.

I know...thanks for backing me up!

[ShannynB]

Originally Posted by pman

I see there aren't very many hispanics in Pitt, would you say there are problems with racism or cultural problems?

As one of the few Hispanic women that does not consider herself "white" or "black", but Hispanic in the Pittsburgh, I see the black/white issue from an outsiders point of view. Pittsburgh is VERY segregated. We moved recently from Swissvale to the North Hills (Ross Township). My son went from a class that was all black (except for himself and 2 white children), to a class with not one single black child in his entire grade, and maybe 5 in the entire school. I have friends from different races, and I used to have to go out with my white friends seperate from my black friends, but we have recently started going out as one group, and no matter where we go, it always ends up with one race being uncomfortable because they are the only ones from their race there. It is a very sad state of affairs, and there is still a good deal of racism from both sides

[pman]

Originally Posted by ShannynB

it always ends up with one race being uncomfortable because they are the only ones from their race there. It is a very sad state of affairs, and there is still a good deal of racism from both sides

is it this way because people hang out in neighborhoods rather than downtown? is it cultural differences? (for example, I like good beer, but most black places I've been, even the upscale ones, don't serve good beer). or is it racism? as a hispanic, do you experience racism on a daily basis in pitt?
the one exception has always been jazz. the crowd is almost always mixed. I find hispanic places intimidating (nightclubs, not restaurants) because I'm such a bad dancer and latin men seem to always be good thogh I do like the music.

[springerjump]

I wonder if there are non-brown skinned Hispanics? I'm an 1/2 MX (fair skinned and green eyes) and am considering a move there. Not everyone fits into the same bucket but isn't Pittsburgh one big melting pot? We're all Americans.

[Humanoid]

Originally Posted by springerjump

I wonder if there are non-brown skinned Hispanics? I'm an 1/2 MX (fair skinned and green eyes) and am considering a move there. Not everyone fits into the same bucket but isn't Pittsburgh one big melting pot? We're all Americans.

No, Pittsburgh isn't one big melting pot. Its not like Los Angeles or NYC.

[pman]

thought this might be of interest
[SIZE=2]Once again, Phila. is gateway for immigrants | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/13/2008 (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20081113_Once_again__Phila__is_gateway_for_immigra nts.html - broken link)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]

Since 2000, nearly 75 percent of the growth in the region's labor force is attributable to the employment of immigrants. Although a common stereotype portrays immigrants working in low-skill, low-wage jobs, a substantial number are self-employed entrepreneurs, or work in such highly skilled professions as medicine and the pharmaceutical industry....

At the start of the 20th century, Philadelphia ranked third behind New York and Chicago as "a central-city immigrant gateway," according to the report. By century's end, New York and Chicago were still in the top three.
Philadelphia, however, had slipped below 10th place. And as immigration here stalled, the region became almost entirely native-born.
Immigration surged again, nationally and locally, in the 1990s, and crested nationally in 2000. But between 2000 and 2006, Greater Philadelphia's immigrant population began growing again - by 113,000, which was nearly the number of arrivals in the entire previous decade. Today, with more than 500,000 foreign-born residents in the 11 counties, the region "has a diverse mix of immigrants and refugees from Asia (39 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (28 percent), Europe (23 percent) and Africa (8 percent)," according to the report.

originally, I just wanted to know if the lack of immigration came from lack of jobs and advertising or if there was hostility towards immigrants.
btw, the post gazette recently had a writeup on an argentine coffee shop wehre they teach spanish. that might be a good place to start.
[/SIZE]

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by pman

thought this might be of interest
[SIZE=2]Once again, Phila. is gateway for immigrants | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/13/2008 (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20081113_Once_again__Phila__is_gateway_for_immigra nts.html - broken link)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]
originally, I just wanted to know if the lack of immigration came from lack of jobs and advertising or if there was hostility towards immigrants.
btw, the post gazette recently had a writeup on an argentine coffee shop wehre they teach spanish. that might be a good place to start.
[/SIZE]

All of what you stated. Immigrants who come here are met with jobs locals are already competing for, and sentiment from natives.

[SkyeBlu]

Originally Posted by springerjump

I wonder if there are non-brown skinned Hispanics? I'm an 1/2 MX (fair skinned and green eyes) and am considering a move there. Not everyone fits into the same bucket but isn't Pittsburgh one big melting pot? We're all Americans.

There are. I am what I guess you could call a "Hispanic" of European descent and you would never know I'm not an Italian-American like my husband unless you knew my personal history. 6th generation American, well educated professional, brown hair/eyes, white skin. I personally know or know of a few other individuals like myself here in the Pittsburgh area, so I'm not the only one either. So, yup, we do exist.

And no, in my experience Pittsburgh is definitely not one big melting pot, a great deal of black/white segregation still exists and is part of every day life around here. That said, I've never experienced any discrimination or been treated in any way differently, but I really have no way of knowing if that might be because I blend in so well and fly completely under the radar most of the time.

In all honesty, I can see someone that fits the "Hispanic" stereotype having a totally different experience than I have though, depending on which part of the city/suburbs they live in, the sort of people they interact with on a daily basis, what their language skills are, etc.

[pman]

Originally Posted by SkyeBlu

In all honesty, I can see someone that fits the "Hispanic" stereotype having a totally different experience than I have though, depending on which part of the city/suburbs they live in, the sort of people they interact with on a daily basis, what their language skills are, etc.

you mean of mixed descent?
with all due respect, after 6 generations you're nothing but american.

[SkyeBlu]

Originally Posted by pman

you mean of mixed descent?

Of mestizo descent, yes, which seems to be the racial makeup most readily recognized as "Hispanic". Not that it should even matter, because a "Hispanic" can be any of any race or racial combination but many people in the US don't seem to realize that.

Originally Posted by pman

with all due respect, after 6 generations you're nothing but american.

Oh, I absolutely agree with you that I'm nothing but 100% American (and quite proud of it!), but maybe I should explain that I was actually born in Puerto Rico and that tidbit of personal information tends to short out some people's perception of me in sometimes quite hilarious ways. Never mind that PR has been part of the United States since 1898 and that my own ancestors immigrated from Europe to the continental US in the first half of the 19th century before some of them found their way down to the Caribbean after the Spanish-American war, to some people I'm still a "Hispanic" even if everything else about me tells them otherwise.