Question For The Day
I have been witnessing and observing things going to work, talking to friends, watching television and this question came to me:
Why is this idea of “ghettoness” and/or the ghetto lifestyle becoming so acceptable within the black community? Why is there a sense of normalcy to adapt into a ghetto lifestyle?
*For those who want to probe further, when I say GHETTO, I am referring to the act of doing something half-ass; a cheap like appearance and most importantly, to embody an impoverished/poor/disadvantaged area through one’s actions.
interesting question as i too am struggling with this idea that being ghetto is ok, and in fact it almost proves your “blackness” to be so. i have a friend at work who refers to me as a “white nigger.” she associates the things that i do (i dunno which things in particular) with being “white.” it confuses me as i have no idea what the difference is between a “white” nigger and a “black” nigger (since the common denominator there is “nigger”). she seems to subscribe to the idea that it means one thing to be black, and another to be white. she wears multicolored weaves, has tattoos up and down her arms, fails to speak proper english, and loves to hang out in the hood. in her eyes, i speak “like a white person”, and im a “good girl”. i guess this makes me a white nigger. i don’t hang out in the hood, i wouldn’t even be able to find my way there and when i hang out with her and her friends i feel out of place. almost as if i’m too whitewashed, not quite “black” enough to hang. for them, its normal to know someone who has been shot, who sells drugs…their kids know words to songs that no child should know, and its nothing for them to get into physical altercations with others. in her eyes, it might not be right…but its ok, cuz hey thats life. for the “black” nigger anyway. i don’t know why this is. its so easy to blame the media because that is primarily where our people get their notions of themselves. but i think this is an issue that we need to fight within our community. we need to change the “white” nigger/”black” nigger mentality. there is no such thing. being ghetto is not ok, and its ignorant for someone who is to consider someone who isnt an anomaly. thats part of the problem.