PITTSBURGH
The city’s black population is one of the poorest in the nation and black men here are nearly twice as likely as white men to be unemployed, according to an in-depth report released Tuesday by the University of Pittsburgh.
The report, touted as the most comprehensive ever done on multiple races in Pittsburgh, brings to light the vast disparities in wealth, income and quality of life between blacks and whites in the city and its suburbs.
James Maher, the University of Pittsburgh’s provost, said the goal was a study so reliable it could not be ignored.
The issues addressed in the report by the school’s Center on Race and Social Problems concern everyone “but are so complicated we really don’t have solutions,” Maher said.
One of Pittsburgh’s major problems is its lack of diversity and highly segregated neighborhoods, researchers said. These factors contribute to the persistent employment and population-retention problems the region has suffered since the steel industry collapsed in the 1980s.
“The diversity issue matters, particularly to young folks. That’s a hindrance,” said John Wallace, a Pitt associate professor.
