Editorial: Preserve MLK’s legacy by promoting diversity

As students volunteered, politicians pontificated and we all honored the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. — things seemed a lot better Monday than they did in the ’60s.

We have worked toward becoming a country and a city that embraces anyone and everyone. Forbes even ranked our city of Pittsburgh as America’s most livable city in 2011. At first glance, life looks to be on the upswing.

And that’s the problem.

The Pittsburgh Regional Diversity Survey, released in 2013, paints a bleaker truth. While fewer than 30 percent of workers describe their workplace as “very diverse,” white workers were almost twice as likely as minorities to report their workplace as “very diverse.”An even more striking statistic shows only 28 percent of minority Pittsburgh residents would reccomend the region as a place to live. We need to accept our shortcomings and do better.

Our city’s minorities are underrepresented, yet we usually shirk the bad news and focus on the good. The Forbes ranking and the positive survey reporting from non-marginalized Pittsburgh residents suggests our city is cloaked in optimism. This complacency raises the same question Pittsburgh rapper Jasiri X raised in his song “America’s Most Livable City,” where he asks for whom, exactly, the city is livable.

Privilege acts as blinders, and 79 percent of whites feel the region embraces racial and ethnic minorities. But only 41 percent of minorities feel southwestern Pennsylvania is a place that embraces them. While many of us may agree with Forbes that Pittsburgh is the most livable city in America, only 46 percent of foreign-born residents reported southwestern Pennsylvania to be a “very welcoming” place.

We can’t allow theses statistics to repeat themselves on next year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

In our workplaces and schools, we should make an effort to include underrepresented minorities in our communities to reverse the statistics. With globalization comes a responsibility on our part to tout diversity, and our campus is a great place to start.

Pitt’s Affirmative Action and Diversity Services’s goal is to achieve diversity in the racial/ethnic and sex composition of its workforce at all levels and must involve all students in promoting diversity. Students need to look at the data from the Pittsburgh Regional Diversity Survey, and then volunteer, reach out to the diversity council to involve ourselves in furthering minority inclusion and familiarize ourselves with the areas of Pittsburgh that are overlooked in glossy rankings likes Forbes’.

Stop making jokes about the Hill District. Start actually visiting the Hill District.

With the influx of Syrian refugees and immigrants from other regions of the world, we need to work on improving how we involve our neighbors in the community now and tomorrow.  Make refugees and immigrants want to stay here and help improve our city and its diversity.

Before Pittsburgh can become the most livable city for everyone, we have to earn that title by facing reality and making diversity a priority in our work places and schools.