GHETTO.
How exactly do you explain (logically)to someone what ghetto is? How do you explain this to a child who has grown up hearing the term and using the term but then seriously asks you one day? "What does ghetto mean?"
When I was first asked this question I opened my mouth to answer and quickly I was speechless. Being that I was driving at the time, passing by low income housing, I could've easily pointed and said that is ghetto. Or I could have mentioned a few "famous" people and said that they are ghetto. I really wanted to give my child a serious answer though. I couldn't think of a way to seriously give a definition of what ghetto is. I thought to myself, what is wrong with this? How could I seriously not explain what ghetto is in a serious manner?
So I looked up the merriam-webster definition of "ghetto" in the meantime:
1 ghet·to noun \ˈge-(ˌ)tō\ plural ghettos also ghettoes
Definition of GHETTO
1: a quarter of a city in which Jews were formerly required to live
2: a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure
3 a: an isolated group
b: a situation that resembles a ghetto especially in conferring inferior status or limiting opportunity
Examples of GHETTO
He grew up in the ghetto.
Origin of GHETTO
Italian, from Venetian dialect ghèto island where Jews were forced to live, literally, foundry (located on the island), from ghetàr to cast, from Latin jactare to throw — more at jet
First Known Use: 1611
2 ghetto transitive verb
Definition of GHETTO
: ghettoize
First Known Use of GHETTO
1936 ghetto noun (Concise Encyclopedia)
Formerly, a street or quarter of a city set apart as a legally enforced residential area for Jews. Forced segregation of Jews spread throughout Europe in the 14th–15th centuries. Ghettos were customarily enclosed with walls and gates and kept locked at night and during Christian festivals. Since outward expansion was usually impossible, most ghettos grew upward; congestion, fire hazards, and unsanitary conditions often resulted. Ghettos were abolished in western Europe in the 19th century; those revived by the Nazi Party (see Warsaw Ghetto Uprising) were overcrowded holding places preliminary to extermination. More recently, the term ghetto has been applied to impoverished urban areas exclusively settled by a minority group or groups and perpetuated by economic and social pressures rather than legal and physical measures.
So back to my response that these children belonged at the other school than which they attend. I did open my mouth and have a light moment of word vomit. Basically I responded with "so what then? So they can attend these "higher income" high schools with drug problems?" No, I'm not proud of my moments of word vomit but I mean what I say. It is true, the "higher income" high schools do have drug problems that have made the news. One of which is known to have heroin problems. Very sad situation actually. The other one has it's problems of drugs and alcohol but it is not as clear as the heroin problem at the other school. Now I'm not saying this to point fingers, but to reiterate what we have seen on the local news, in the local obituaries, etc. Sure, all schools have their problems but that is my point actually. No matter where you go, you will have problems. It is just the type of problems that makes the difference. Fights, drugs, alcoholism in teens, bullying, etc. It is everywhere!
So just because a particular school has fights all the time, does that classify it as ghetto? No, it doesn't.
(By the way, this friend of mine is the one that actually got my child to thinking to ask me what ghetto is.)
Now let me end by asking you again, how would you define "GHETTO"?
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