Reginald Denny being pulled from hisrncab, during the L.A. riots, and beatenrnby black rioters further worried the company.rnLast summer, Charles Morrison,rnHRC Director, stated that Pizza Hut’srnfailure to deliver to the Trusses was probablyrna case of “illegal redlining.” He toldrnthe Pittsburgh Post Gazette that “Wernhad looked at it every which way andrncouldn’t see Pizza Hut’s defense as legitimate.”rnMorrison argued that the HRCrnwas going after “a large company, not arnmom-and-pop store,” as if it would makernany difference to a parent whose sonrnor daughter was shot while delivering arnpizza.rnClaiming that the HRC had “declaredrnwar on pizza shops,” and fearing thatrnthey were going to be forced to deliverrnto unsafe neighborhoods, a grassrootsrngroup sprung up called the PittsburghrnPizza Coalition. Vowing not to give uprntheir rights, or their lives, without a fight,rnpizza drivers and shop owners demonstratedrnon the steps of Pittsburgh’s City-rnM OVING?rnTornassurernuninterruptedrndelivery ofrnCHRONICLESrnplease notifyrnus in advance.rnSend changernof addressrnwithrnthe mailingrnlabel fromrnyour latest issue ofrnCHRONICLESrnto:rnSUBSCRIPTIONrnDEPARTMENTrnCHRONICLESrnRO. BOX 800rnMOUNT MORRIS,rnILLINOIS 61054rnCounty building an hour before the Januaryrnhearing. Co-organizer Dan Sullivanrnsaid that he worked for the Pizza Hutrnstore that was “being smeared” by thernHRC: “I went to work there when thatrnshop first opened. We went door-todoorrnin the Hill District, deliveringrncoupons for discounts on pizzas. Thernshop definitely wanted to do business inrnthe neighborhood.”rn”We had drivers robbed every day,”rnexplained Sullivan. “In East Liberty, wernhad the same driver robbed three timesrnin one day. They usually robbed us withrna gun. They know we’re not allowed torncarry a gun, or more than $20. If we’drndrive to the Hill District, they hid in thernbushes across Herron Avenue to rob us.rnDrivers would quit after a couple ofrndays.”rn”I Won’t Die for a $9 Pie,” read thernmagic-marker inscription on the raisedrnpizza box of Jane Wadsworth, owner ofrnPizza Outlet in the Greenfield sectionrnof Pittsburgh. Her husband, she said,rnonce had a loaded pistol held to his headrnwhile delivering. “I’ve been robbed,”rnread the pizza box sign held by AlexanderrnLifshitz, a Russian emigre who deliversrnpizza to support his family.rn”In memory of Jay Weiss,” read onernof the homemade signs. Jay Weiss wasrnmurdered in 1993 while deliveringrnfor Chubby’s Pizza in the Manchesterrnarea of Pittsburgh. Weiss, a 34-year-oldrnfather of three children, accompaniedrnpizza driver Paul Puhac on the deliveryrnbecause Puhac was a bit apprehensivernabout going to that section of Manchesterrnalone. Both men were shot,rnWeiss fatally.rnPittsburgh police said that a fewrnblocks away, two teenagers who lived inrnan abandoned house ate the pizza theyrnhad ordered as a ruse to rob the deliveryrnmen. As coroner’s deputies removed thernbody of the slain delivery man, people inrnthe crowd that gathered laughed outrnloud. Veteran homicide detectives shookrntheir heads in disbelief.rnAt a break in the hearing, I suggestedrnto Attorney Simms that this case seemedrnnot to be about racial discrimination,rnbut about Pizza Hut’s concern for thernsafety of their drivers. “Bulls—!” shernreplied, as if a multinational corporation,rnor any company for that matter, couldrnpossibly care for the safety of its employees,rnan attitude not uncommon amongrncivil rights activists and personal injuryrnattorneys.rnMs. Simms’ advertisement in thernPittsburgh Yellow Pages promotes herselfrnas an attorney specializing in “Criminal-rnPersonal Injury-Civil Rights-SocialrnSecurity-Disability-Workers Compensation.”rnIf Pizza Hut sent a driver into arndangerous area where he or she was injuredrnor killed, lawyers like Ms. Simmsrnare all too eager to sue the company forrnbeing “negligent” and valuing profitsrnover peoples’ lives. In a catch-22 situation.rnPizza Hut was charged for beingrnoverly concerned with safety.rn”How did it make you feel, when yourncouldn’t get a pizza?” Simms asked herrnclient. “I felt sad and ashamed,” saidrnCad Truss. “This is modern times. 1992.rnYou wouldn’t think that this kind ofrnthing was going on.”rnIt would be easy to trivialize this casernas just much ado about a sausage pizza.rnStill, the civil rights movement in ourrntime has focused on many mundanernevents, like being refused the right to siprna Coke at a Woolworth counter or to sitrnin the front section of a bus. The smallrneveryday things that are denied to blacks,rnor said, make up the quality of their lives.rnAn accumulation of such things makesrnone feel humiliated, separated, secondclass,rnand alienated.rnIndeed, it is a shame that people likernthe Trusses, through no fault of theirrnown, couldn’t get something as simple asrna pizza, but the solution is not to sue PizzarnHut. The answer is to attack crime sornthat businesses, both black and white,rnlarge and small, can prosper in all ourrnneighborhoods. During the hearing, Irnwondered how the Trusses would feel if arnyoung black man, maybe their son, werernforced to deliver pizza to an area wherernthe KKK was up-in-arms. Most of usrnwould consider it a travesty for a storernowner to force a black driver into such anrnarea.rnDuring the pizza drivers’ protest andrnthe HRC hearing, Pittsburgh’s talkrnshows were ablaze with the pizza controversy.rnExhibiting the common sensernthat seems to have fled today’s civilrnrights establishment and many legal proceedings,rneven the liberal talk show hostsrnand their callers were opposed to forciblerndelivery of pizza to crime-ridden areas.rnAgainst this backdrop of public outcry,rnthe case against Pizza Hut was dismissedrnby the Human Relations Commissionrnon a technicality. Appeals may be pending.rnSarah ]. McCarthy is a freelance writer inrnPittsburgh.rn36/CHRONICLESrnrnrn