2 councilmen urge Biden to tour Black Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh City Councilmen Ricky Burgess and R. Daniel Lavelle sent a letter Wednesday inviting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to return and personally tour Pittsburgh’s historically Black neighborhoods.
This letter comes after Mr. Biden visited Mill 19 in Hazelwood just a few days earlier.
During his Hazelwood speech Aug. 31, Mr. Biden questioned the public on how safe life would be during another four years of President Donald Trump in office. The former vice president also discussed the wave of protests regarding the instances of police violence against Black people in recent months.
In his speech, Mr. Biden denounced violence on all sides of the issue — citing “excessive force” by law enforcement, condemning “extremists and opportunists” who have taken their weapons to protests, and describing looting and rioting as “lawlessness” that is worthy of prosecution.
In Wednesday’s letter, which was provided to area news outlets, Mr. Burgess and Mr. Lavelle jointly address how Mr. Biden recently visited Pittsburgh to speak on the state of race relations across the country and invited him to come back.
“We welcome you to our City as your presence and your support are highly valued,” the letter read.
The councilmen discussed how they believe many of the policies Mr. Biden included in his “Lift Every Voice” plan for Black Americans were consistent with their efforts in Pittsburgh. However, the councilmen wrote that they believe it is important that Mr. Biden states his “clear, unambiguous and unmistakable support for communities where the majority of Black people live.”
The councilmen are asking Mr. Biden for three things: to return to Pittsburgh and observe the challenges for many Black people; to support Pittsburgh’s “Black Pittsburgh Matters” resolution; and to prioritize rebuilding Black communities in major cities across the country.
In early July, City Council members unanimously voted in favor of the “Black Pittsburgh Matters” resolution, which promises investment in the city’s Black communities that suffer from “concentrated intergenerational poverty.”
In an email Wednesday night, Mr. Burgess said if people are committed to Black lives and state that Black lives matter, he believes they need to commit to reinvesting in Black people, places and spaces to create sustainable Black communities.
“We must rebuild Black communities, for Black people, by Black people with our partners as allies,” Mr. Burgess said.
Mr. Lavelle added in the email that while Pittsburgh has been labeled one of “America’s most livable cities,” it is simultaneously one of the worst places in America for Black people.
“Showing Black people that they matter and that where they live, work, worship and play matters must be a major priority for our country in this time of great racial and civil unrest,” Mr. Lavelle said. “We believe that rebuilding Black families and Black communities is what justice demands of America.”