Whispers and Shouts

Today, I Googled the word “Clairton” and was instantly transported back to high school. Anyone who has heard of Clairton has heard of Clairton’s dominant high school football team, the Clairton Bears. News story after news story spoke about the WPIAL playoffs and the latest defensive moves by the players. Then I ran into this.

        It was a letter to the editor thanking the Pittsburgh Courier for the coverage of the Community Economic Development Corporation of Clairton’s activities in the neighborhood. The letter’s author briefly mentioned how it is refreshing to hear Clairton spoken about in a positive light. Unfortunately, having grown up in Pittsburgh, in the South Hills specifically I can relate to her sentiments. I was only watching the news the other night when this story broke. 

        One of the few remaining steel mills in the area, Clairton’s US steel mill will be paying less tax revenue. This is an especially difficult development in Clairton which is still rebounding from the closure of many of Pittsburgh’s steel mills in the 1980s. This additional loss of revenue will place significant stress on Clairton’s local economy which unlike other surrounding neighborhoods is not able to benefit from the tax boost generated by the presence of a shopping mall or large franchise stores.

I began to go further back in time, looking at older news stories. I started with Pittsburgh’s historically black newspaper, the New Pittsburgh Courier’s archives. One word occurred over and over again in headlines where Clairton was mentioned—homicide. I compared this with the results I found for the left leaning Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the right leaning Tribune Review. The Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review mainly had stories about football with one linked in about a Clairton woman who gave birth on her way to the hospital. Then I kept reading and slowly I began to see stories once again linked to violence in the community. When evaluating neighborhoods one must not only look at the structures, people, strengths, and needs of the community itself, but also its reputation. Clairton’s reputation has the potential to be seen as a hindrance. Again, I mention the importance of CEDCC’s efforts to make sure that Clairton does not become a gentrified community.

As we know name changes can be a hallmark of gentrification. Suddenly, East Liberty becomes the East End and the North Side once renovated becomes the North Shore--the white areas of these communities at least. Using our matrix of domination framework we cannot ignore the racial overtones in the decision to rebrand newly gentrified communities with new names. CEDCC is working against this element and by doing so they are protecting their client base. By renaming a community one is implying that there is stigma attached to the old name. Stigma leads to isolation and alienation for people who are from the community. This can cause significant personal distress and economic impairment.

In the social work profession we try to implement a strengths based perspective. I have met many people from Clairton who are proud of their neighborhood. They are proud of their high school and they are proud of the name Clairton. This is a significant strength. It speaks to residents’ resiliency and commitment to their roots even as the media amplifies Clairton’s negative reputation.