i hear folks from all backgrounds throwing this phrase around and when it is uttered it seems that everyone knows what "ghetto" is referring to. With its loaded race, class and colonial sentiments this phrase makes me vigilant.

what does it mean when people say "thats ghetto"?
how did this phrase become part of our shared cultural language?
is it legitimate for folks from different class backgrounds to appropriate this phrase?


native son

taking apart western culture one head at a time

They really saying, you're acting/living/talking like a nigger. emphasis on the ER.

It's worse when I hear black folks say it, cause they should know better.

one
k. orr

http://breddanansi.tumblr.com/

folks say that they got lost and ended up in "the ghetto" just cuz they see a liquor store on the corner and black folk at a bus stop. pisses me off...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KizzMyBlakAzz: you've made yourself a shell
KizzMyBlakAzz: i know you're soft and gooey on the inside
LHoney17: I know I am....never said I wasn't
LHoney17: but that doesn't mean I get stepped on or that I'm not strong
KizzMyBlakAzz: Gooey
LHoney17: lol
KizzMyBlakAzz: Caramel
KizzMyBlakAzz: Center
LHoney17: lol....well that's a nice way to think of it
KizzMyBlakAzz: with like a hard choclate shell
LHoney17: think I'll put that in a personal ad
KizzMyBlakAzz: You're a Rollo
LHoney17: lmao
KizzMyBlakAzz: lmao

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

if a black person cracks a joke in class, the white kids are like, hahaha, ur so ghetto

>if a black person cracks a
>joke in class, the white
>kids are like, hahaha, ur
>so ghetto

Really?? What level? high school
I'm not jonin'. I'm curious. I didn't know they were bold enough to say it straight to someone like that. Are they cool with the people they say it too b/c I guess I can see that (not that I agree with it).

and when you look at the origin of the word it's even worse. the word was first used in 1516 to describe the sections of town that italian jews were forced to live in to segregate them from society. the history of jewish ghettos in italy, poland and germany shows that the word describes legitimized oppression and mass murder. the first use of the word to describe black neighborhoods was by m.l.king and was intended to shock and horrify. why anyone, black or jewish or for that matter any oppressed people, would think of it as an innocuous word is beyond my understanding.

I catch myself using the phrase ... I'll be dammed before I do again.

love and respect,
El Rey

NOW GO CHECK OUT MY GROUP'S WEB SITE!: http://www.wemba-music.org

http://www.mumia2000.org
http://www.mumia.org

"shit makes no sense for music to be this ill" - atruhead talking about the Bilal promo

http://www.blackgrrrlrevolution.org
cuz yer either down with the revolution or not ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
who are you









really

if u want a little more info on ghetto's history....
http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=37405&sctn=1#s_top

that britannica on line
peace

"my first impulse was to run up on you, do a rambo, pull out the jammy and flat blast both of you.....but i didnt wanna mess with this thirty-seven hundred dollar lynx coat, so i chilled, thats right i chilled....."---oran "juice" jones, 1986

wow. I didnt know that, i will never use that word again

**********
anyways..

its generalized far beyond the scope of what ghetto really is, to me, ghetto is a state of mind more than a place or thing, for example, i was raised in a area where the general public would classify as ghetto, but me myself am not ghetto. keep it moovn!

>i hear folks from all backgrounds
>throwing this phrase around and
>when it is uttered it
>seems that everyone knows what
>"ghetto" is referring to.
>With its loaded race, class
>and colonial sentiments this phrase
>makes me vigilant.

"Ghetto" simply means a community composed of particularly one minority ethnic group.

>what does it mean when people
>say "thats ghetto"?
>how did this phrase become part
>of our shared cultural language?
>
>is it legitimate for folks from
>different class backgrounds to appropriate
>this phrase?

Most people use the word "ghetto" to mean "slum." A "slum" is traditionally a neighborhood with primarily low income residents. A "ghetto" can be well-off but is usually composed primarily of a minority ethnic group.

And of course there's the code word "inner-city," which used to be innocuous, but has become racially charged since the 80s. "Inner-city" used to describe any high-density urban neighborhood, but is now used interchangably with "ghetto" and "slum." This reinforces the American notion that density equals poverty and cities are undesirable.

Language constantly evolves, sometimes becoming more ambiguous.

JMello

"...it's about past 7 here, so we're actually in different timelines."

"I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but my predecessors, as well. And that's why I made the decision."

"I'm about to name my brother the ambassador to Chad."

"They don't seem to be flocking in right now, but it is dove season in Texas. I'm a hunter and if I decide to shoot some dove, I'll shoot 'em and eat 'em."

--President-Select George W. Bush--

"Ghetto simply means a community composed of a particular minority ethnic group".

To a cetain degree I'll go with that, Mello. But I'll also go so far as to say that the term 'ghetto' extends beyond ethnic and racialists boundaries. I think its contenporary definition can also be used when referencing social groups as well. And for me, there is always this insuation of hopelessness and oppression attached to the beleagured term. For instance, there are several 'elitist ghettos' in many of America's affluent communities. Why, some may go so far, if they dare to lower their proud heads and peek in on our shabby virtual community, as to label this a "urban ghetto" site. It's all about an outsider's perceptions on a 'Hood they just simply don't get.

yes mello my man i agree language is ambiguous and evolving, however when the term "ghetto" is proceeded by "thats" in order to label an action i think that the term congeals not around "a community composed of particularly one minority ethnic group" but around a value-laden distinction between savage and civilized.

thus ghetto = savage/nigger/poor/garish
with the opposite = civilized/normal/appropriate/self contained/white


native son

Its used as a catchphrase for whatever people feel is common or the worst aspects of the black underclass.

You go to the movies & talk loud throughout - you're ghetto.

You where doorknockers and/or gold fronts - your ghetto

You come outside with a scarf on your head - your ghetto

You do anything that appears ostentatious in comparison to the white american yuppie ideal & you're ghetto.

I hate how people use the term. Its obnoxious, totally classist & more that a bit fucked up. And it unfairly stigmatizes people, often times people we were or are 2 steps from being in the same situation.

What's scary is this idea that being from middle or upperclass america automatically makes their ways & customs right and better. And the idea that nothing positive comes from growing up in the ghetto - hence people say I'm from the ghetto but I'm not ghetto. Well if you're from the ghetto, whatever it is that you're doing is ghetto too.

Completely agree with everything you said. One other destructive thing that this language does is trivialize those oppressive circumstances by applying the term "ghetto" to stupid shit. For instance, I most recently heard it used in this context:

"I didn't have any thumbtacks so I stuck it up with masking tape. It was so ghetto."

This is just another example of how pieces of offensive (or at least negative) language are reshaped and co-opted by majority culture, to the point that they lose their weight. "Fag" is another one. Plenty more, too. That's damaging.

Alek

________________________________
"Say some shit that suprise me...
My face don't change."

____________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What? What?

Great analysis, i completely agree.

With "race" being such a volatile topic the thinly veiled phrase, "thats ghetto", becomes another way for white folks to express their racism and hatred.

it is sad to see that while the words change the sentiments remain the same.


native son

>With "race" being such a volatile
>topic the thinly veiled phrase,
>"thats ghetto", becomes another way
>for white folks to express
>their racism and hatred.

Or at least their ignorance and insensitivity. I don't really see the use of the phrase as a surrogate for less acceptable expressions of racism. It's more like a very telling occurrence in our language's development, something that reveals inherent prejudices.

Alek

________________________________
"Say some shit that suprise me...
My face don't change."

____________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What? What?

if we both agree that the racists sentiments remain the same
what differentiates between "development of our language" and a "surrogate"? is it intent?


native son

>if we both agree that the
>racists sentiments remain the same


Okay, see I'm not sure that this is clear. Ignorance is a huge part of racism, probably the biggest part, but it's not everything. I was trying to make the division.

>what differentiates between "development of our
>language" and a "surrogate"?
>is it intent?

Good question. I'm not sure these two are really quite in the same context. It sounded to me like you were proposing that this language was a functioning as a substitute for less appropriate racist language. I was trying to say that I think it's more complex. That (as with many other things in our culture), this development in our language is indicative of deep ignorance within majority culture. Not necessarily of racism, but of one of its primary components.

Alek


________________________________
"Say some shit that suprise me...
My face don't change."

____________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What? What?

"Ignorance is a huge part of racism, probably the biggest part, but it's not everything."

in the case of a person without color saying "thats ghetto", would you say that the person has misunderstood or does not grasp the implications of the phrase and that by explaining the meaning they would change or refrain?

"this development in our language is indicative of deep ignorance within majority culture"

due to the varying status of the speaker i think it would be difficult to site a uniform intention behind the use of the phrase , thus i think either of our explanations can be useful and explanatory. However i wonder what you refer to by the phrase "deep ignorance"? i write this because i am hesistant about racism being considered a misunderstanding that can be alleviated by consciousness or the Truth.

native son

>>"Ignorance is a huge part of
>>racism, probably the biggest part,
>>but it's not everything."

>in the case of a person
>without color saying "thats ghetto",
>would you say that the
>person has misunderstood or does
>not grasp the implications of
>the phrase and that by
>explaining the meaning they would
>change or refrain?

Ha. That's another thing. I don't have to explain that recognizing ignorance is not the same as remedying it. But I can say that alerting someone to the implications of their common speech often has (in my experience) a significant effect on his/her thinking about the way they speak (sometimes just a temporary one, though).


>>"this development in our language is
>>indicative of deep ignorance within
>>majority culture"

>due to the varying status of
>the speaker i think it
>would be difficult to site
>a uniform intention behind the
>use of the phrase ,

True. I was trying to restrict it to the common, middle/upper-middle class white majority usage of the phrase, but even then...

>However i
>wonder what you refer to
>by the phrase "deep ignorance"?
> i write this because
>i am hesistant about racism
>being considered a misunderstanding that
>can be alleviated by consciousness
>or the Truth.

Good point. Obviously, I'd be hesitant about that too. But keep in mind, I was still talking about "ignorance" and not "racism." I don't think racism can/should ever be considered a "misunderstanding." Ignorance, on the other hand, can certainly be combatted with education. It's not always successful, but one of the differences between "deep ignorance" and "racism" is that racism implies beliefs and feelings beyond surface awareness, whereas ignorance (however deep), is still just a matter of inexperience/sheltered life.

Alek


________________________________
"Say some shit that suprise me...
My face don't change."

____________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What? What?

thanks for your response and clarification.

native son

You too. Let me be clear again: I think your concern about racism often being treated as "they just need to be enlightened" is extremely important. We've got to educate, but we can't ever forget that a lot of this stuff is experiential. That's how people change.

Alek
________________________________
"Say some shit that suprise me...
My face don't change."

____________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What? What?

when did "that's ghetto" become
>another way
>for white folks to express
>their racism and hatred.
???????

I only hear the phrase used by ppl of African decent? It seems to me that this phrase "that's ghetto" is a distinction we proliferate all on our own.

Live from the Shoe Sto'
NuShooz
I,I, I Can't Wait!

nushooz@blackplanet.com

Live from the Shoe Sto, the Mall and NOW the courtroom


I, I, I Can't Wait?
U've waited long enuff!

i made those comments in reference to when i hear other people(white) using the phrase, which i hear very frequently.

native son.

So, in classic defense of offensive language, it is alright as long as the white people don't do it? I think he is pointing out that they probably got it from pillaging black "culture" (if this even qualifies as that), which they do soooo well. Which is probably why it doesn't occur to them that it has racist over/under-tones.

i am not attempting to police anyones speech, i am looking for feedback on the context surrounding the use of the phrase, "thats ghetto".

here are the questions i posed with the original post:

i hear folks from all backgrounds throwing this phrase around and when it is uttered it seems that everyone knows what "ghetto" is referring to. With its loaded race, class and colonial sentiments this phrase makes me vigilant.

what does it mean when people say "thats ghetto"?
how did this phrase become part of our shared cultural language?
is it legitimate for folks from different class backgrounds to appropriate this phrase?

were....I only see/hear what was written - which as you can clearly see was "ghetto is another way for white folk to express their hatred"

>So, in classic defense of offensive
>language, it is alright as
>long as the white people
>don't do it?
Pardon me, again, but that's NOT what I said or implied.

I
>think he is pointing out
>that they probably got it
>from pillaging black "culture" (if
>this even qualifies as that),
>which they do soooo well.
> Which is probably why
>it doesn't occur to them
>that it has racist over/under-tones.

"I think" I am pointing out that the hatred expressed is from the people expousing the attributes and/or differences of their own people. Separtism amongst us (Ghetto, Country - Light Skinned, Dark Skin - Male, Female - Black, Blacker) is just another way Non White Folk (that look like me) to continue to proliferate the divide that exists.

Live from the Shoe Sto'
NuShooz

I,I, I Can't Wait!

nushooz@blackplanet.com

Live from the Shoe Sto, the Mall and NOW the courtroom


I, I, I Can't Wait?
U've waited long enuff!

Hey don't be trippin like that...........doesn't matter what people think or say, Ghetto's where you live hold your head and be proud.

"Ignore .......IGNORANCE"-me

"damn a rose grew from concrete"- MOsDef or someone

Peace from the Sun Ghetto Fabulous peeps
Ghetto light is too bright for them

~sig~
When ppl show you who they are- BELIEVE them. ~Maya Angelou

ahhhh shut that shit up....yall don't understand the ghetto, so yall should stay the fuck out the ghetto.


in the immortal words of 2pac thug messiah: "yeah nigga!"

-illified illustrated

and cringed every time-- i think ppl use it to reflect that sumthin just sucks- how the hell did this make it into slang like this in the first place?


==**peace**==

"Words without work is not enough." Sizzla

There is more danger in the word exotic than in a sharpened machete --me

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

DPP; DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

.....

"Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere"
- Amiri Baraka

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I hear a lot of Chicanos using the term. I don't know why they wouldn't say something like "thats so barrio." I have to agree with everyone else in the context that I've heard it used. And I'm still confused as to why people who don't live anywhere in the ghetto use it. Has anyone heard it on tv shows?

"To be a student and not be a revolutionary is a contradiction"
-- Salvador Allende, 1973

________________________________________

https://cindylu.wordpress.com/

>Has anyone heard
>it on tv shows?

i have, and it shocked the hell out of me. it was a long time ago (i'm thinking '95) and i was watching one of those mtv spring break shows. they followed these three pale frat guys around cancun and one of them was always using "hip-hop slang" (or what he perceived to be hip-hop slang, anyway). so at the end they asked him how he liked his spring break and he said "it was dope! it was hype! it was ghetto!" i was like WTF???!! what would he know about the ghetto?? and then i really began questioning my own useage of the word (i'm from a working class suburban neighborhood) and how causally i (and most of my friends) tossed it around. and i've since been very conscious about using it. i'm not saying that i've never called something "ghetto" since that time, but now i'm more wary of it.

(sorry for all the parenthetical statements)


__________________

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__________________

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__________________

http://community.webtv.net/azucar18/yetanotherwasteof - go there. i double dare you.

___________________

i am jesus's little sunbeam.

>they asked him how he
>liked his spring break and
>he said "it was dope!
>it was hype! it was
>ghetto!"

*shaking head* so now, not only do white folks get to appropriate "hip-hop slang" but they also get to ridicule it (and themselves unconsciously) by turning it on it's head. I guess that to this guy, being "ghetto" was in fact being "cool" or "dope." This is deep. In order to appear "beyond whiteness" this guy had to go and appropriate something that has generally meant "busted" and "run down" and identified w/ it as a positive attribute so that he could seem more "down."

White people are just amazing ...

love and respect,
El Rey

NOW GO CHECK OUT MY GROUP'S WEB SITE!: http://www.wemba-music.org

http://www.mumia2000.org
http://www.mumia.org

"shit makes no sense for music to be this ill" - atruhead talking about the Bilal promo

http://www.blackgrrrlrevolution.org
cuz yer either down with the revolution or not ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
who are you









really

that a body would go and say somethin dumbass like that in the midst of a conversation that has potential for good.

ugh...PEOPLE are just amazing...

I'm finished with okp boards. The reverse racism on this site is incredible and generates such a horrible discomfort in me, I cannot stand to read or post any more. I have never used the word "ghetto" in my own personal speech, although I'm certain that some people of all ethnicities do. I'm also sure that so-called "ghettos" are populated by a variety of cultures. I treat people of any ethinicity with the same respect I hope to be treated with, so why do I feel villainized when I read this board?

"About mass appeal, no segregation,
Got Black, Asian, and Caucasian saying that's the joint"--Apl.De.Ap

"Blindfolds can't cover three eyes,
We're wise to the fact so we attack with what we know Heaven is the only good life" --Andre Benjamin

____________

Over 10 Years of Measured Responses

yeah I've always been stirred up by this
statement and it makes me wonder also
thanks for puttin the question out
its so necessary to allways question the
words we use and a buse

interesting comment in the midst of all this tirade against racism or is it just racism if it's anti African american??Of course none of y'all EVER use the term trailer trash....or refer to trailer parks...right?? Just a touch of double standards perhaps...interesting comments also about the Latin american community too...well done folks highly illuminating...maybe some of you need to read back over the bull you just wrote

I don't use the term trailer trash...so there is no double standard.

So what are YOU talking about? Don't assume

well, the original post concerned the phrase "that's ghetto." we can talk about all the other demeaning phrases, too. but someone felt it in his/her heart to discuss this expression. i don't think the other terms are right, but people allow their feelings and lack of thought to affect the way they speak. everyone, should become more conciousness of what they say. those who participate in these forums show their interest in the subjects. when we discuss changes and concerns, we show that we may be able overcome any problems that exist.

Let's build and uplift Y'all!

"Brotha Man, stay true, stay true." -Ghostface

U N I vers all-y speaking....

there are two ways to look at this coin....

Words are power, the seeds of change, Garvey said that the tongue is mightier than the pen and the sword.

Then Again....

Words are only supported by the images, actions and ramifications that we attach to them like files on e-mails. Thusly, the sounds are in and of themselves.....hollow.

So.....like BT said.....Choose your weapon.

E me if you like to spit.

IVBlack@1webave.com

*The rich get richer cuz they worked on rich.
*The poor get poorer,
*cuz they mind can't swith
*from the ghetto.
*Let Go.
*It's not a novelty,
*you can love your neighborhood without loving poverty
*Follow Me?

-KRS One

**************************************************************************************
"Dang nigga I gotta go get me a new FUBU shirt!" - Cunfused white guy I heard on the bus

"HEEEEYY YYOOOOOOUUUUU GUUUUUUYYYYYYS"-Sloth from Goonies

"I'm not number 1. Ah sorry I lied I'm number 1,2,3,4,and 5."-KRS One

Peace-PFunk aka. The Okay Irish

Okay I do get what everyone says about racially charged etc
BUT
the example of using tape to hang up a picture because u can't find any blu tack

"Thats Ghetto" because as anyone who has being there knows u gotta be creative and improvise when u don't have the exact thing you want due to a lack of funds

Its like water on your corn flakes before u go to school because ur parents couldn't afford milk for two weeks and dem ain't no kelloggs cornflakes either.

Don't laugh it ain't funny

Well actually it is I been there, done that, worked hard and come up. But i look back on it and smile cause it made me stronger

When u here someone say thats ghetto it can be a compliment to the resilience and creativity of workin through ones circumstance

And no i ain't sayin its right for rich kid x to use it as a derogotory term

but honestly whenever i hear someone say man i did such and such and it was so ghetto it usually means they had to think outside of the box in order to progress.

nough said..........................

thanks, you make a very good point. i appreciate the perspective.

native son

>BUT
>the example of using tape to
>hang up a picture because
>u can't find any blu
>tack
>"Thats Ghetto" because as anyone who
>has being there knows u
>gotta be creative and improvise
>when u don't have the
>exact thing you want due
>to a lack of funds

>When u here someone say thats
>ghetto it can be a
>compliment to the resilience and
>creativity of workin through ones
>circumstance

>honestly whenever i hear someone
>say man i did such
>and such and it was
>so ghetto it usually means
>they had to think outside
>of the box in order
>to progress.

I think sometimes this can be the case, but does Captain Kirk say to the other admirals, "I had to get to hyperspace, but without dilitium crystals I was forced to send the tractor beam itself past impulse power. It was SO ghetto, guys."

That makes no point whatsoever, except to say that other factors (i.e. race, class, etc.) *do* come into this usage of the term, and in my view, people use this (more often than not) to imply not just creativity with limited materials, but the HUMOR inherent in those limited materials. In other words, "How funny does my poster look? I had to use tape, Brad, TAPE! It's all I had!!"

The humor that affluent people get from poverty is not appropriate, in my opinion.

Alek

________________________________
"Say some shit that suprise me...
My face don't change."

____________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What? What?

this gets me soooo heated.
I grew up in the "ghetto"(I am out now) and all of a sudden it is synonimus w/ ignorant, cheap, shody, half-ass, loud, budget... and a million other derogitory things.
And like it or not, the word has sever racial conotations behind it.
When ur average white, asian, hispanic, whatever kid says this, they r not thinking of an Italian ghetto, or an Irish ghetto or China Town, they r thinking of a poor black nieghborhood... or worse yet they r not thinking at all.

This brings us 2 another key problem in contemporary american culture. People do not think about the words the use. People of color (including hispanic) throw the word nigger around like it was "you know?".

Teach the children...

and all
>of a sudden it is
>synonimus w/ ignorant, cheap, shody,
>half-ass, loud, budget... and a
>million other derogitory things.
>And like it or not, the
>word has sever racial conotations
>behind it.

they
>r thinking of a poor
>black nieghborhood... or worse yet
>they r not thinking at
>all.
>


Somebody else was making light of the term "ghetto" by sayin' it was synonimous with "thinking outside of the box"...but i disgress...

I've heard..."damn..my cell phone is so ghetto"..for not picking up signals/being older and bigger.
"my car is so ghetto"...window doesn't work/seatbelt doesn't work

i've used it here or there a while ago..but i'm pretty conscious about it now..and even ask people why whatever it is they just described as 'ghetto'..is 'ghetto'..most can't answer..or get the point quickly...

peace
Kyle

much love,
Kyle

Detroit..Let's GO!!! May 12th Dilla Walk for Lupus...Belle Isle...

http://walk.lupusresearch.org/goto/blackeyedskeez

Even a Dollar can HELP..


http://www.myspace.com/jedikyle
http://www.detroitderbygirls.com/

What about this context? Is the term offensive when he uses it? And what the hell does it mean: chicks gettin money is still ghetto? how is getting money "ghetto"? why does he say "still"? confused...

MJ

We keep it type raw, and know exactly what we fight for / when the nightfall come, we in the right war / Cats who spill blood for a cause, not just because / Defy the authority and follow God's law / Revolutionary entrepeneurs... - Talib

I think Kweli means "gettin money" in the materialistic, immoral Lil' Kim way. By calling it ghetto I think he means it's silly or something that our people revere.
"You're here, I'm pleased" Jilly from Philly

Sites that I contribute to:

http://www.livefrommemphis.com

http://www.geeksofdoom.com

& i don't care if ghettos are german born durin the programs/progroms/whatever...HERE???...in THIS country???...ghetto equates w/poor blk folk...say what u will...juxtapose it to blk folk sayin nigga vs whitey's niggER...still mean BLK BLK MUH'FUCKIN BLK

i saw them makin over 3 twits who wanted to be jenny lopes on MTV the other day...gave one of them the boriqua's "GHETTOFABULOUS look"...i liked to have hurled...but i was in my own home & it would've proved more effective to have erk'd on the sean john




asighn4jane just ain't VALID n e more

"nobody beats the riz" © virga "hannibal"

_____________
Kamikaze Genes
____________♌♀
goddess; small g.

I use the term all of the time but, I know what I am talking about and so does the one I am talking to.



" and if I'm still Mrs. Nigga, I wont find it surprising...- inspired by Mos Def( he he)

> I use the term
>all of the time but,
>I know what I am
>talking about and so does
>the one I am talking
>to.

& do they???

>" and if I'm still Mrs.
>Nigga, I wont find it
>surprising...- inspired by Mos Def(
>he he)

& when u say it...u couldn't substitute BLK for it???


asighn4jane just ain't VALID n e more

"nobody beats the riz" © virga "hannibal"

_____________
Kamikaze Genes
____________♌♀
goddess; small g.

Like I said, I know what I mean when I say it and so do those with whom I converse. I did not say it meant black either. I KNOW what I mean and so do those who I talk to. I dont talk to you so why would I use the term with you. I was being straight-up when I said what I said in the previos post, there is no need to try to READ into my statement. Take it literally and know I that I never mean to offend anyone out of sport.

Peace

I was flipping through the channels today and stopped on MTV's "TRL" for a while. I was shocked that Carson Daly referred to everything as "ghetto." First, they had some machine that was spitting out balls to determine which videos to play. The machine delayed spitting out the ball for about a second and Carson replies, "This machine is so ghetto." He then proceeded to call the machine ghetto for the entire show. Once a girl walked up to choose the next ball and he made another joke concerning "ghetto." He said something like "welcome to the ghetto" referring to the area around the machine. My mouth was wide open. I was like WTF!!! Since when did it become acceptable for them to say it. I'm one of those people that hear mostly black people using it and while I knew some whites used it I thought they knew better than to use it on nationally televised shows. Apparently Not!

ok, maybe ghetto isn't a very nice word when it's used it certain contexts. I've used the word before. see. I would describe my clothes dryer as ghetto. It's so broke down and bootlegged, you gotta duct-tape it close, duct tape the lil button to make it go and u gotta open tha lint drawer with a fork. I call my dryer GHETTO.

I think some people are blowin tha issue outta porportion but I see where they are coming from. If a person was to look at a strugglin teenage mother and call her ghetto...ok..thats not right. Lets draw tha line in the sand somewhere.

But like when i use it, I'd appreciate people not to look down on me for being so damned ignorant.I condsider myself an outsider lookin in on these boards quite often. When you do put yaself on a pedastal because of what you do and say, "more enlightened than thou" type mentality...your no betta than tha next man callin sumthin ghetto. hell. this so like tha white/black issue and the lightskin vs darkskin issue to me..but ihave already said way too much. Thats a whole nother post. so peace...


quote... "broads gettin' money iz still ghetto.." talib kweli

shit..sumthin like that..

the word "ghetto" was created by jews.
who gives a fuck what word you use or who uses the word, as long as you get your point across.

but yeah... lets rebuild north american culture.