There, I said it.

10/31/2015 1:09:34 AM

racist, sure. but incredibly racist? not sure.

[Edited on October 31, 2015 at 1:14 AM. Reason : about as racist as trailer park]

10/31/2015 1:13:31 AM

the term originally meant a segregated area, so...

Quote :

"a part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups."

[Edited on October 31, 2015 at 2:00 AM. Reason : a]

10/31/2015 1:59:38 AM

I just call it the G-word

10/31/2015 7:32:33 AM

^^ im very well aware of what the term originally meant. Now, however, it is almost exclusively used as a blanket term for black people, or for stereotypes of black behavior, in a derogatory manner. It is sickening.

10/31/2015 8:33:14 AM

Is it cause they're selling nicks out there all day?
Cause a prostitute sucking dick in the hallway?
Little Caesar's never sendin' pizza out ya'll way
Papa Johns never get delivered where y'all stayed
The Ghetto is a physical manifestation of hate
And a place where ethnicity determines your placement
A place that defines your station
Remind you niggas your place is the basement
White people in the attic
Niggas selling dope, White people is the addicts

10/31/2015 8:54:28 AM

So if I refer to the trailer park I pass everyday on the way to work as "a ghetto," am I being racist? Because that trailer park, as far as I can tell, is populated primarily by poor white folk.

10/31/2015 9:26:59 AM

Quote :

" Now, however, it is almost exclusively used as a blanket term for black people, or for stereotypes of black behavior, in a derogatory manner."

10/31/2015 9:29:45 AM

I'm tired of all this politically correct bullshit. Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. Black, white, yellow, brown. Whatever. We're all a product of the culture we grow up in. And these differences in cultures are easily distinguishable from one another.

There, I said it.

10/31/2015 9:38:26 AM

Skin color is culture to that ^guy.

10/31/2015 9:40:22 AM

No, not at all. But my skin color apparently dictates whether i'm allowed to say "ghetto" or not.

10/31/2015 9:49:18 AM

i feel like ghetto has fallen off the slang table over the past 10 years. used to be in every conversation

10/31/2015 10:26:43 AM

I am confused by this a bit. I thought that referring to sweet ass cars and fabulous attitudes that are only found in the ghetto, as ghetto, was OK. Is this not OK anymore?

Am I the only TWWer that has black relatives that live in the ghetto?

[Edited on October 31, 2015 at 10:53 AM. Reason : dp]

10/31/2015 10:52:32 AM

EMCE is ghetto.

There, I said it.

10/31/2015 11:02:13 AM

Instead of calling places ghetto, I'm just going to call them what my racist cousins from Louisiana call them: "The BLACK part of town..."

10/31/2015 12:41:42 PM

A guy I used to work with in the federal government would offer to give you a ride somewhere to be nice, then would drive reallll slow to the destination (through a govt facility so you're not going real fast to begin with) and talk about "how it's their fault they have those problems" and "they do it to themselves". He would coyly work around the topic and then in the middle of it make it clear he meant black people, and at some point would inevitably mention something about the ghetto.

I have no idea what he thought he was accomplishing there, I just thought it was rude. Especially since we worked (and some of us lived) in a diverse environment. I guess once you've got your "tenure" you can be an ass all day since you can't get fired (as long as you "get your work done").

10/31/2015 12:46:48 PM

I don't know how racist it is.

To me, it's a lazy, vague word used for observations that generally aren't worth uttering.

10/31/2015 1:08:00 PM

Racist as a descriptive adjective or racist in all situations?

10/31/2015 1:22:08 PM

you used duct tape as a temporary fix for your punctured bicycle tire? man that's non-gentrified low-income neighborhood as hell

10/31/2015 1:30:36 PM

^Yeah, that's how I typically hear people use it, and it's almost always something that didn't need to be said in the first place.

10/31/2015 1:51:58 PM

Tell us more about what offends you, Mr Sensitive.

After all, we're here to make sure you don't get offended by anything or anyone. Ever.

10/31/2015 2:06:11 PM

LOL, we've gone all the way, guys.

We're now offended that people get so darn offended all the time.

10/31/2015 2:56:33 PM

my post was more meaning that the term has always been racially charged and describing a situation that arises out of institutional/systematic racism. not confirming/denying that the term is racist, but certainly the situation arises out of racisim

10/31/2015 3:05:36 PM

I'll start using the term Favela instead

Hope no Brasilians get offended

10/31/2015 3:41:07 PM

I definitely get what EMCE is saying to an extent ...

If an area of town has mostly black people living in it, it's automatically called "the ghetto". I've never, to my recollection, once heard people referring to trailer park areas as ghetto, even though they're filled with people of equal economic status and tend to have equally as many run down homes/trailers, as much trash in the yard and as much broken down or jerry rigged shit out and about. Since it's exclusively used to refer to blacks in a demeaning way, I could see how the term racist applies.

Also, people do use the term ghetto to be synonymous with "what black people do" when it's used in referenced to how someone acts. In this case it's coded language. People realize saying "what black people do" would be offensive and come off racist, so they use the term ghetto as if it's any better ... which it isn't because it delivers the same message.

10/31/2015 4:19:45 PM

10/31/2015 4:23:44 PM

I think that it is a very contextually dependent word, similar to honky and redneck for white people. It can definitely be used in a way that wouldn't raise an eye brow.

Quote :

" I've never, to my recollection, once heard people referring to trailer park areas as ghetto, even though they're filled with people of equal economic status and tend to have equally as many run down homes/trailers, as much trash in the yard and as much broken down or jerry rigged shit out and about."

UM HELLO,

Trailer Trash, heard of it?

[Edited on October 31, 2015 at 4:41 PM. Reason : h]

10/31/2015 4:34:54 PM

Quote :

"you used duct tape as a temporary fix for your punctured bicycle tire? man that's non-gentrified low-income neighborhood as hell "

haha




So, in my little town here in FL, there's a store called "Grocery Outlet." It's one of those cost + 10% places. It is almost strictly white trailer-trashy, but it's commonly referred to as "Ghetto Grocery."

10/31/2015 4:39:00 PM

Quote :

"If you ever used duct tape as a temporary fix for your punctured bicycle tire"

you might be a redneck

10/31/2015 10:18:25 PM

What about ratchet?

10/31/2015 11:18:24 PM

10/31/2015 11:32:16 PM

Ratchet is racist. I prefer self adjusting socket wrench.

11/1/2015 1:42:21 AM

11/1/2015 10:27:44 AM

I lived in a place populated by Mostly black people .... White people were called ghetto all the fucking time.

I guess ... it's only racist if white people do it ?

11/1/2015 12:06:44 PM

Quote :

" Now, however, it is almost exclusively used as a blanket term for black people, or for stereotypes of black behavior, in a derogatory manner."

11/1/2015 12:12:40 PM

as a white dude in an area not predominated by white folks, I disagree.

11/1/2015 12:20:12 PM

because you're the norm, obviously

and there's no chance that your situation could be the exception

11/1/2015 1:04:22 PM

Quote :

"it's only racist if white people do it ?"

incorrect. for example, see Bishop's musical masterpiece for reference to it still being racist, per EMCE's definition

11/1/2015 1:09:12 PM

OP why you so ghetto doe :3333333333333333
is what I want to know
cause yo mama's a hoe

I was just doing some ghetto-style rapping

jk love you

we're cool right? we're cool, G?

11/1/2015 1:52:30 PM

The first issue is race but race aside, its offensive to the people who live in the ghetto to associate them with negative things. this no longer flies even in racially homogeneous countries.

11/1/2015 6:00:57 PM

^ This. Living in a ghetto is an absolutely shitty thing to pick on someone for in the firs place.

11/1/2015 6:28:27 PM

What about the residents of the ghetto that embrace it and are proud of it? Are they, too, offended by the word?

11/1/2015 6:33:02 PM

I wouldn't be the first time a group of people acted against their personal interests (in my opinion); or embraced and/or made popular a negative aspect of being in a lower social class

11/1/2015 6:40:52 PM

thats the same as the argument that white people should be able to use the n word since a lot of black people say and its in rap music.

or women who call each other hoes makes it ok for men to refer to all women as hoes.

11/1/2015 6:58:26 PM

No, it would be like some black people not being offended when other black people use the n word

Or if actual prostitutes called each other hoes

11/1/2015 7:24:00 PM

You're wrong. People cannot "be" ghetto. Prostitutes are indeed whores.

11/1/2015 8:09:10 PM

I guess I'll take your word over Bishop up there, that his entire hit song is a lie, exposed by a troll.

11/1/2015 8:11:17 PM

Thats a pretty loose definition of hit.The song is awful and not a credible source.

"ghetto" is used in a derogatory way by black people to describe poor black people as inferior. This type of stuff is built in to the american caste system of american ignorance so much that people have bought into identifying as their subgroup.

white- white whites, middle class, redneck, trailer trash, wigger
black- whiteblack, blackish, hood, ghetto,

this is how you get white people calling things "so white" and black people saying other blacks are "acting white" . an eminemish white guy with saggy pants is relegated to being a "wigger" while an educated black man is not really black

[Edited on November 1, 2015 at 8:44 PM. Reason : l]

11/1/2015 8:43:27 PM

What's your credible source, if not someone who lives in the ghetto, and makes blockbuster hip hop classics about people that are, in fact, ghetto?

11/1/2015 8:52:58 PM

Frankly, this is the most oversensitive, bullshitty discussion I've seen in a while.

Nobody's even addressed the fact that a disproportionate number of trailer park residents in North Carolina are black people. We're not West Virginia, guys.

As a group, black people have very little wealth compared to white folks. And, yes, they live in trailers, too--some of which are very nice.

But, if I had to blame the wealth disparity on something, I'd probably start--start--with the government giving out free shit in programs that applied only to white people. Of course, there's a bunch of terrible shit before and after that contributed to the gap we still see today.

Still, yeah, there's an enormous wealth disparity between "races." And no amount of politically correct language is going to change it. You can be uppity about the term "ghetto" if you want...I get uppity when most people wanna use it.

But I still randomly drive through places that make me sad because they're actual ghettos--a neighborhood populated by racial minorities that is clearly underserved. In the case of smaller places, they're literally fenced off on three sides so residents can't walk through other neighborhoods or run from police.




I just don't know what y'all are talking or arguing about.

11/1/2015 9:05:52 PM