Ghetto

I looked up the word ghetto online and apparently it was first used to describe the isolated areas in the outskirts of town where Jews were forced to live during the Middle Ages in Europe. Later it became widely used to describe any poor section of a city inhabited primarily by people of the same race, religion, or social background, often because of discrimination.

Fast forward to modern times and it began to also be used as an adjective to describe anything cheap, urban, or related to inner city life.

I definitely admit to being ghetto. I used be proud of being so when I was younger and definitely the rise of hip hop and the black gangster culture encouraged me. Now as a grown man with a family of my own I have begun to detest the ghetto culture and just the whole way ghetto culture is almost synonymous with disrespect.

But being “ghetto” is not just a black thing. People of all races, socioeconomic status, and geographical location can be ghetto. I am bringing this up because Mary’s mom is ghetto. She grew up in a very difficult time, in a not so affluent place, and didn’t get a chance to get an education beyond the 8th grade. Yet despite all of these things she was able to make something of herself and become independently wealthy through real estate. It was through sheer hard work and determination that she was able to make it as a single Korean woman. I definitely have to give her respect for this. But at the same time that same determination that probably made her successful has made her hard, tough, and what I call very street, or ghetto.

When someone keeps following you and yelling in your face when you try to walk away, that’s ghetto. When Mary locks herself in our room to avoid being yelled at and someone keeps banging on the door and yelling through it for like half an hour, that’s ghetto. When someone tries to block Mary’s car with her body to prevent her from going to work, that’s ghetto. When someone chases after the car when Mary puts it into reverse and continues to run down the street yelling with no shoes on, disturbing the whole neighborhood, that’s ghetto. When I have to physically restrain someone, so Mary can run away on foot, that’s ghetto. When someone just takes off for a week without notice and leaves two parents having to miss work to take care of their son, that's ghetto.

In my experience with ghetto people, sometimes there is no speaking to them rationally and the only thing they understand is fear and power.