Difference between revisions of "Ghetto"

Latest revision as of 21:34, July 12, 2016

The term ghetto historically meant the Jewish district of a European town, especially in Italy, before Napoleon freed the Jews from this confinement around 1800. The original Ghetto was the name given to the Jewish quarter of Venice (which still bears that name). By 1900 it came to mean the Jewish neighborhoods of New York City, and soon was applied to other ethnic neighborhoods in U.S. cities. There is a sense that the ghetto is closed—outsiders are not welcome.

After 1950 the term changed meaning to refer to big city neighborhoods in the U.S. that were over 90% black. Typically they are poor and crime-ridden, so the term "ghetto" picked up these connotations. "Inner city" is a synonym. Thus Martin Luther King said, "In the ghettos of Chicago...the problems of poverty and despair are graphically illustrated." A "ghetto blaster" is slang for a large and powerful stereo radio-DVD player.

By extension "ghetto" also means any closed, underpaid sector of the labor force which is hard to escape.

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-The term [[ghetto]] is normally used to describe often-impoverished area within a [[city]] or town that is inhabited by people of a particular ethnic group. Historically, people belonging to marginalized ethnic groups and [[nation]]alities, such as [[Europe]]an [[Jews]] were restricted to living in ghettoes.
+The term '''ghetto''' historically meant the Jewish district of a European town, especially in Italy, before [[Napoleon]] freed the Jews from this confinement around 1800.  The original Ghetto was the name given to the Jewish quarter of [[Venice]] (which still bears that name). By 1900 it came to mean the Jewish neighborhoods of New York City, and soon was applied to other ethnic neighborhoods in U.S. cities.  There is a sense that the ghetto is closed—outsiders are not welcome.
-Often, people will choose to ghettoize themselves, such as in the so-called "gay villages" that are common in larger cities, but this should not be confused with people who have no choice but to live in particular areas.
+After 1950 the term changed meaning to refer to big city neighborhoods in the U.S. that were over 90% black. Typically they are poor and crime-ridden, so the term "ghetto" picked up these connotations. "Inner city" is a synonym. Thus [[Martin Luther King]] said, "In the ghettos of Chicago...the problems of poverty and despair are graphically illustrated." A "ghetto blaster" is  slang for a large and powerful stereo radio-DVD player.
-The isolation usually experienced by such ghettoized groups can often result in difficulty in relationships between those in the ghetto and those outside.
+By extension "ghetto" also means any closed, underpaid sector of the labor force which is hard to escape.
-[[Category: Sociology]]
+[[Category:Sociology]]
+[[Category:Jewish History]]
+[[Category:Black History]]