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Hannia Zavala
Professor Mary Martin
Advanced Composition
4 January 2015
The first time I heard the word Ghetto I was at a baseball game. Our eighth grade teacher
took us on a field trip, I remember that Mrs.Brooks told a girl Alexis you are so ghetto in a
good way, I was very confused because I had no clue what ghetto meant. I was left with many
questions such as, was ghetto a bad thing and, why did Mrs.Brooks insult a black girl by calling
her ghetto. Ghetto defined by my friends means from the hood ( another term I was unfamiliar
with). Ghetto defined by the Urban Dictionary means poor, urban, relating to crime, and the poor
life. In our current day the word ghetto is used vaguely and many times by all different types of
people. What many people do not stop and think about is that when that word is used many are
hurt. Living in the ghetto is a huge disadvantage, it becomes a hard obstacle for those living in
poor urban areas when it comes to success.
Success and motivation are starting to become mainstream, what I mean by that is that
everyone is talking about success, and reading books like The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. What is
lacking in our culture is not motivation or knowledge about success, rather hard work. That lack
of hard work is being caused by big obstacles such as poverty, and the area you live in. Living in
the ghetto is more than a factor of success and opportunity, it is a factor that influences who you
are and shapes the way you think and the way you act. In poor urban areas crime rates trend to be
higher than in the suburbs. Many americans live in poverty today about 37 million live in
unrelenting poverty as explained by Gregory Mantsios in Class in America - 2006. And many of

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those although they live in the ghetto hide their poverty thanks to clothing that disguises their
real social class.
In the ghetto live mostly minorities, that is Hispanics and African Americans. This affects
their chance of success in life because although they work hard, it requires more effort and
determination to be successful when living in a poor area. In Class In America - 2006 Gregory
Mantsios compares two white men who live in the same city, and have worked equally as hard,
one is living just below poverty line, and the other one is making a lot more money. Both worked
just as hard but they ended up with different results, because of where they started. It all reminds
me of a race. One runner starts at the middle of the track, while the other one at the beginning,
they are both given two minutes to run. The runner that was already half way there made it to the
finish line while the other one only made it the halfway. Both of them trained together and
prepared for this race but one was given the advantage of starting at the middle of the track
giving him more chances of winning that the other runner. Just like the two white men who
worked just as hard, but one ended up being rich and the other one ended up poor.
In this world many get to start the race with an advantage, while others have to start from
the beginning if not behind the start line. It all goes back to the difference in work put forth. The
people born in the ghetto are required to work harder to make it far in life, and accomplish The
American Dream. As depicted in Opportunity Index.com Even th county you are born , and live
in affects your chances of being succesful. It is astonishing to think that although we live in the
same country, we all have very different opportunities.
Not only does your location impact your chance of success but so does your gender, and
race. A white male has a smaller chance of being poor, while a hispanic female has more chances
of being poor. As expressed by Kathleen R. Arnold in From Americas New Working Class in

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New York City mainly Women sweep and clean subways for a living. Many call this
municipalized labor, slave labor, because no unions protect their rights. These workers are paid
very little and their income is under poverty line. At the end of the day they end up having to
receive welfare. A lot of rich people that pay high taxes complain when they hear that people
receive welfare, because they believe that those people should just work harder, when in reality
they are working very hard. It has become extremely easy to just throw around the word ghetto
and to judge people living in poor areas, and receiving government help, but what is hard is to
help change this.
Not only are people living in poverty the ones that suffer, but also people that have high
annual income such as Stephen from Stephen Cruz by Studs Terkel he one day realize why
minorities were not making it in business, and that was because of ingrained racism. Practices
that are so normal yet hurtful nowadays. To some being racist towards others is normal, yet it
hurts those that are being discriminated. Studs Terkel writes Stephen cruz People think all
Mexicans do is sleep and laugh, not only does that injure one's identity but it questions why
people are so quick to stereotype.
With social media racism has started to become more normal and that is not good. If you
go on Instagram or on twitter you can quickly find many accounts full of stereotypes towards
every race not only minorities. You can find accounts that are directed towards being a common
white girl and the problems associated with that, you can also find an account titled mexican
problems. To me this is just a way of being racist towards your own race. I know that sounds
odd, for someone to be racist against one's race, but it helps explain why people are so quick to
judge. Just like author Vincent N. Parrillo argues in Causes of Prejudice we judge because we
require reassurance in order to feel content. Just as there accounts full of racism towards ones

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race there are also accounts that hate on other races. According to Diversityinc.com racist and
derrogatory messages are posted at a rate of about 10,000 tweets per day! Meaning that about
seven tweets per minute have some sort of racial message!
Surprisingly enough among those tweets the most common term used is not that of a minority
rather of a majority! White boy is the most used term in those tweets! proving once again that
racism towards one's race is dominant in our world due to a lack of high self esteem!
Although many americans live in poverty, a lot of them still have social media accounts
thanks to the rapid growth of free wifi throughout cities! This has also lead to online bullying, a
huge problem in our society today, where people make fun of hard working people living in the
ghetto, who are trying to succeed! It is inhumane to make fun of someone else especially
someone who is less fortunate, and trying to succeed in this world. Not everyone has white
privilege and is given certain things without having to work as hard for them. Therefore there is
no reason for one to judge someone else just because they are hard workers.
A lot of times our childhood experiences are what frame how we are and the attitude we
have towards other races. If a child growing up knows a lot of people of different races, and
lives in a diverse community, it is more likely to accept other races and not be a racist person. If
a child grows up in an environment where everyone looks the same, and not exposed to other
races often he or she is more likely to be racist when he or she grows up.
In life many people are not completely treated equal just because of the color of their
skin, and their culture. This leads me to wonder is being ghetto a culture? I want to believe that it
is not, but I am starting to conclude that it is just because of the fact that a culture as defined by
webster dictionary is a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or
organization (such as a business). Living in the ghetto and being ghetto is not exactly that but it

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does create a culture around an urban and poor lifestyle. Now lets talk about skin and its color. I
have always wondered is there something about skin color that frightens us, then creating
racism? Is racism just a way to protect us from what we are afraid of? Ever since I remember I
have been against racism, because I live by the words We are all equal yet somehow when I
am alone at night walking to my car and I see a black male I get super scared, more scared then I
would if I saw a white male! This is something that I am not proud of due to the fact that I am
against racism, so I researched and found out that I am not the only one that this happens to in an
article titled White fear of black men the author talks about how Our collective fear of the Black
man has a rich and detailed history, one that by this time has practically been encoded in our
national DNA. I start to wonder with all the talk of fear of how white fear black, why don't
people ask if black fear white after all isn't human nature to fear the majority! In the ghetto per
say many unarmed young black males have been shot by white police officials. Are we covering
our eyes to the fact that white men should also be feared! Throughout our country's history those
that have declared wars have been white men!
So discrimination derives from the fear of ourselves. Which is why a lot of racism
towards our own race, and towards minorities occurs. It is why we discriminate as a society those
who are and or live in the ghetto! The explanation to this is a psychological defense called
projection, which is when one accuses someone of having traits they refuse to acknowledge in
themselves. It explains it all from why Mrs.Brooks called Alexis Ghetto to why we discriminate
against our own race. It is sad to believe this but true. A cause of racism is projection, so in order
to stop discrimination and racism we must acknowledge the problems within ourselves, so that
then we are not quick to discriminate against others.

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Another cause of racism is the media. News broadcasts, and movies daily show black
men handcuffed, and behind bars. When a black man commits a crime, everyone pays attention,
because media attention is super high. This misleads people to think that black men living in the
ghetto are the men that commit the most crimes in our country, when actually 70% of rapist, drug
abusers, and dealers in our country are white men! Many movies always show the bad guy to be
a black guy living in the ghetto. Hollywood has industrialized the image of black men to be
dangerous and a criminal, while the good guys are always white! There is no veracity in this and
we all know it, yet we refuse to generalize the white men are criminals, and that white men can
also be criminals! As a society we socialized to collectivize the violence of black individuals and
individualize the violence of whites, making it hard for racism and stereotypes to go away.

This image for example shows that white men are superior than black men by showing
how the black race is being stepped on by the white race. PIctures such as this one show that

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discrimination still exists today, thanks to a sense of moral blindness that also keeps
discrimination alive.
Many people living in the suburbs fear to step in the ghetto, because they believe that
they will get shot or raped as soon as they walk in!
Thais practically impossible, and ridiculous yet many believe it! Not only do white and rich
people fear the ghetto, but many other races do! It is as if we all blind ourselves to the fact that
we are all human and we deserve to be treated equally. I realize that to eradicate racism and
discrimination is impossible. Yet i encourage everyone to unblind themselves and look past the
stereotypes to make our race all one, because we all truly are one race, the human race.
I now look back at that baseball game when Mrs. Brooks called Alexis ghetto and I had
no idea as to what she meant, and realize that Mrs.Brooks was just like Alexis, and she feared to
be called ghetto, which is why she called Alexis Ghetto. I am not saying that both of them are
ghetto, what I am saying is that they were both what society has decided to call ghetto. Both
where loud, and black. It hurts my heart to know that just because someone is black, loud and
wears jordans they are labeled as ghetto. And social media has done nothing, but increased
discrimination and labeling towards the ghetto. When living in the ghetto does not make anyone
less of a person than you and me living in the suburbs! Alexis and Mrs.Brooks are not ghetto in
fact they are two women that are not afraid to express who they are and let their personality shine
through. So next time you hear someone use the word ghetto as insult stop, and think, remember
that people living in the ghetto do not have the same privilege we do. People in the ghetto
continue to work hard everyday to achieve the american dream, because eventually if they
continue to to work hard they will make it to the finish line, maybe even sooner than you and me.

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Works Cited

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Arnold, Kathleen R. "Americas New Working Class." Rereading America: Cultural
Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. By Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and
Bonnie Lisle. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 2007. N. pag. Print.
Cushing, Bonnie B. "Center for the Study of White American Culture." Center for the
Study of White American Culture. Admin, 10 Mar. 2013. Web. 04 Jan. 2015.
<http://euroamerican.org/wordpress/index.php/2013/03/10/white-fear-of-black-men/>.
"Mapping Opportunity in America." Opportunity Nation. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2015.
<http://opportunityindex.org/opportunity-index-rankings/>.
Monter, Gregory. "Class in America." Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for
Critical Thinking and Writing. By Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle.
7th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 2007. N. pag. Print.
Perillo, Vincent N. "Causes or Prejudice." Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for
Critical Thinking and Writing. By Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle.
7th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 2007. N. pag. Print.
"Racist Tweets Found." Diversityinc.com. News, n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2015. <http%3A
%2F%2Fwww.diversityinc.com%2Fnews%2Fanti-social-media-study-finds-racisttweets-sent-many-times-day%2F>.
Terkel, Studs. "Stephen Cruz." Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and
Writing. By Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford of St.
Martin's, 2007. N. pag. Print.