Ghetto. It's a word that we hear used all the time. In all situations. What does it mean? Is it negative or positive? Ghetto. Is it a state of being or a state of mind? Who is Ghetto? What does it represent? These are all questions that I was forced to think about. I recently read a book written by a woman named Cora Daniels; the book was entitled “Ghetto Nation”. I was forced to look at the way that I use the word Ghetto. I had to think about who and what I was describing when I used the word. Is the girl with the 4 kids and 5 baby daddies ghetto? Is the boy trying to sell me weed in front of the 87th street train station ghetto? Am I ghetto? Are you ghetto? The answer to all of these questions is yes. All of these things are Ghetto. That is not the problem. The problem comes when people start to think ghetto. Let me explain. The girl with the 4 children and the 5 “Baby Daddies”. The fact that she refers to them as her “Baby Daddies” makes her ghetto. The term “Baby Daddy” was born out of the fear of responsible adult relationships. Instead of creating a stable and healthy environment for the child to live in; so many of the young girl in this country have children with every boyfriend, one night stand and guy they are “talking” to. Most of these children are born out of desperation and irresponsibility. They are the result of too many boys and girls trying to be adults. Too many people looking for love and conquests. The boys are trying to be seen as “The Man” and the girls trying to prove why she is a “Bad Bitch”.
The interesting thing about the “Ghetto” phenomenon is that it is not unique to one race or culture, nor is it taboo anymore. Nowadays, it is cool to be Ghetto. Businessmen speak Snoop “dizzle” talk to sell AOL. Kim Kardashian was made famous by her behind or “donk”. Souljah Boy is teaching the news anchors on WGN how to “Crank dat Souljah Boy”. It is the in thing to be from da 'hood. So yes I am ghetto, you are ghetto and this whole country is ghetto. We pay for this. We support the ignorance and the stupidity that comes along with being “ghetto”. Conscience and intelligent rappers such as Lupe Fiasco and Mos Def have to fight to get an album released because as a country we would rather her 50 Cent telling us to “shake, shale dat ass girl”. Thought provoking songs such as “I'm Beaming” (look it up because your local radio station is not playing it) get little to no airtime meanwhile I am forced to listen to a grown man who refers to himself as Waka Flaka Flame every 4 minutes. I am still not sure what a Waka Flaka Flame even is ( and based on all the red lines in that sentence Microsoft Word is sure either.)
