Typically, the politicians attending the African American Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Luncheon make brief remarks saluting the chamber’s great work advancing Black business opportunities. And true to form, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald did so this year, praising the chamber and its President and CEO Doris Carson Williams for her work.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto didn’t do that this time. He had news to share.
“I have to go off-script, here. I just now came from a meeting where we announced a settlement with the ACLU over a lawsuit about discrimination in police hiring,” he said. “Imagine being told you couldn’t be hired because you smoked pot in high school, but a White officer who’d done it more recently is hired, or being rejected for moving violations when a White officer with worse offenses is hired. That went on, but with this agreement, we are committed to seeing it does not continue. I thought that would be of interest.”
Mayor, Highmark CEO highlight African American Chamber luncheon