vivid said:

Well actually as Lafleurdove and myself have mentioned, its not an English word, but an Italian one derived from Venice (It may even be mentioned in "The Merchant of Venice" (1608) by William Shakespeare to describe Shylock's background).
I would like to know when it was highjacked by Black Americans to describe the urban working and vagrant class of inner cities. Interestingly some of the brownstones in New York date as far back as the 1840s, most of them are from the 1870-1900 period

JustErin said:

I've also used it to refer to tacky behavior (not income or race specific).

Anybody can be ghetto nowadays.

DesireeNevermind said:

Now that it's not OK to call someone "Ghetto" we have the term "hoodrats". I don't think that that is much of an improvement, do you?

frivolous use of words
"too often people use words all of the time without knowing the true meanings. So...I take it upon myself to look up these words in hopes that some people will stop using these terms so frivolously. author unknown

view this 2010 news clip as an example. this was done on a prestigious university campus.




imo as an african american if i were to lackadaisically embrace the term "ghetto" as an acceptable nomenclature for black and poor communities across the u.s. and not see how the term sets up the inhabitants to being stereotyped, catagorized and mocked by many young and older psuedo-intellectuals, then i'm setting myself up.
one of the outcomes of the allowed acceptance of living in an area termed "ghetto" instead of using the term "black community," is to be deemed
unaware to the fact that most of these areas are concentrated into a centralized area of many u.s. cities.
it is a fact that historically ghettos have been areas that have been controlled by the city's decision makers and have most always been fenced in and under police control.

if one were to take a real look at the topography, a.k.a the detailed mapping or charting of the features of these relatively small areaa, districta, or locality of black communities in the u.s., one could see that at a moments notice, these areas could be easily fenced in by the local magistrates should a problematic situation occur. [a.k.a. a real and monsterous ghetto situation]

perhaps it's not a possibility of anything like this happening in this society, however if we look at the current economic situation in the u.s. can we honestly say it could not be a possibility?

one could logically ascertain that constant use of certain words can shape the future.

(see post # 14 and bolded line from Mr. Sullivan and what he said about "ghetto.")

So who threw the party? White kids or black kids?

here's an interesting sidebar re: ghetto


Contents:- Game Board
- Counterfeit Money
- Loan Shark Tray
- Pink Slip Cards
- Ghetto Stash and Hustle Cards
- 40 Crack Houses
- 17 Projects
- 7 Game pieces (Pimp, Hoe, 40 oz,
Machine Gun, Marijuana Leaf,
Basket Ball and Crack)
- 2 Dice


Ghettopoly is a Monopoly parody released in 2003. Invented by David Chang, it uses Monopoly-like mechanics in the atmosphere of a caricaturized United States ghetto. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghettopoly

Ghettopoly Designer: David Chang
Players 2-8
Setup time 5-15 minutes
Playing time about 3 hours
Random chance Medium
Skills required Simple mathematics (such as counting, finding percentages and multiplication);
Social skills
Negotiation

Game
The four railroad properties are replaced by liquor stores. Other properties include a massage parlour, a peep show and a pawn shop. The Community Chest and Chance squares become Ghetto Stash and Hustle squares, while taxation squares are replaced by police shakedown and carjacking squares. Instead of building houses and hotels, property owners can build crack houses and projects. The seven game pieces include: a pimp, a ho, a 40 oz, a machine gun, a marijuana leaf, a crack rock, and a basketball.[1]
Controversy
The game was criticised as offensively racist by a local chapter of the NAACP and black clergy among others.

The game was pulled from the market by Urban Outfitters, its retailer. Chang still marketed the game without their support, and created a sequel known as Redneckopoly. According to Chang's now-defunct website, further such games were planned, including Hoodopoly, Hiphopopoly, and Thugopoly. In October 2003, Hasbro sued David Chang over the game's similarities to Monopoly. In January 2006, Chang was found in contempt of court for failure to produce documents. The court thus entered a "default judgment" for Hasbro's continued use of "Monopoly" as a trademark, and dismissed Chang's counterclaims, which were to revoke trademark status on "Monopoly". In May, 2006, the court estimated that Chang generated US$879,000 in profits from the sale of Ghettopoly, and that damages of $400,000 were reasonable as reflected in the court documents . In June 2006, the court issued a judgment for Hasbro and against Chang for $4,000 in fees and permanently enjoined Chang from using the Ghettopoly name or selling any games by that name, or any other "opoly" forms that might cause confusion as to the source of the games, including Redneckopoly, Hiphopopoly, Hoodopoly, Thugopoly, and Latinopoly.

imo, a farcical caricature of (so called) ghetto life at best
but then (i ask myself) how better can we laugh at the view of how some of us allowably embrace and accept how we and others (in the rest of the world) laugh at us and how we use the them ghetto as an acceptable description of who/how we are.

say it loud, "we ghetto and we proud?"

me, never!
[Edited 5/9/10 10:40am]

Huggiebear said:

I travel to Venice regularly as it's a pretty short charter commute, and on my down time I spend a lot of time in the Jewish ghetto there (sipping Campari & orange in the restaurants there but that's a whole 'nother story). On all these years (some 15,maybe? ) I've never known of the correlation between the original meaning of the word and how or when it translated to black American culture at home in the states....I'm really interested to learn more about this.

Define what "Ghetto" actually is?
Can someone fill us in on what ghetto is, I am hearing this term all the time now, usually to describe urban people who are disadvantaged and listen to hip hop music and call each other Baby mamas and Baby daddys etc.
Its a silly term and lost its meaning, a ghetto was originally a part of a town in Renaissance Italy where outsiders mostly Jews lived and were limited to being in, yet now it seems to involve people with names like Shaniqua who squeal a lot, have cheap ass hair extensions and 10 kids by the time they are 25. Its basically become a racist term of abuse now.

Seriously what does "Ghetto" mean to you

Huggiebear said:


worth a read to answer some of your questions



A JOURNEY INTO THE LAND OF BLING
AND HOME OF THE SHAMELESS
http://www.coradaniels.com/

How often have you used, heard, thought, snickered, whispered (under your breath), shouted (at the radio): "That's so ghetto"? We live in a society where shows like Pimp My Ride top cable ratings, babymama has become a family term, pimp and ho Halloween costumes are sold in toddler sizes on the internet, and even Martha Stewart proudly boasts to television viewers that she "can get ghetto when she needs to."

These days, ghetto no longer refers to where you live, but to how you live. It is a mindset. And a mindset is not limited to a class or a race.
Ghetto is found in the heart of the nation's inner cities as well as the heart of the nation's most cherished suburbs; among those too young to understand (we hope) and those old enough to know better; in little white houses, and all the way to the White House; in corporate corridors, Ivy League havens, and, of course, Hollywood. More devastating, ghetto is also packaged in the form of music, TV, books, and movies, and then sold around the world. Bottom line: ghetto is contagious, and no one is immune, no matter how much we like to shake our heads at what we think is only happening someplace else.

With Ghettonation, acclaimed journalist and author, Cora Daniels, takes on one of the most explosive issues in our country today in this thoughtful critique of America's embrace of a ghetto persona that is demeaning to women, devalues education, celebrates the worst African American stereotypes, and contributes to the destruction of civil peace. Her investigation exposes the central role of corporate America in exploiting the idea of ghettoness as a hip cultural idiom, despite its disturbing ramifications, as a means of making money. She showcases Black rappers raised in privileged families who have taken on the ghetto persona and sold millions of albums, and not so Black celebrities such as Paris Hilton, who have adopted ghetto attitudes and styles in pursuit of attention and notoriety. She also gets personal, exploring her own relationship to ghetto and the ways in which she is both part and outside the Ghettonation.

Daniels infuses this serious look at the degradation of American society with the honesty, found in her debut book Black Power Inc., as well as humor - including lists of events and people that deserve placement in the Ghetto Hall of Fame and a short section written entirely in ghetto slang. The result is not only a timely engrossing expose, that will surely trigger much needed debate, but also Ghettonation is a poignant call for action.

Can someone fill us in on what ghetto is, I am hearing this term all the time now, usually to describe urban people who are disadvantaged and listen to hip hop music and call each other Baby mamas and Baby daddys etc.
Its a silly term and lost its meaning, a ghetto was originally a part of a town in Renaissance Italy where outsiders mostly Jews lived and were limited to being in, yet now it seems to involve people with names like Shaniqua who squeal a lot, have cheap ass hair extensions and 10 kids by the time they are 25. Its basically become a racist term of abuse now.

Seriously what does "Ghetto" mean to you

New word for tacky or ill-mannered. Its not tied to race or color by any means.