Ghetto
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[edit] Meaning of ghetto
Ghetto is a term with a long history, used to describe areas of a city where minority social groups live, emerging from socio-economic factors but also often as a direct result of city planning with a close relationship to segregation policies. Today it is often associated with and used in relation to inner city areas and certain districts in the US, as referenced by the 1969 Elvis Presley song "In the Ghetto" (first entitled "The Vicious Circle") written by Mac Davis.
[edit] Uses of the word ghetto
The term is sometimes used in British English but not as frequently. Terms that could be associated with the American meaning of Ghetto might include hood, enclave or possibly estate. The US term can be traced back to descriptions, in the late 1800's, of African American neighbourhoods, during and up to the end of segregation through the Civil Rights Act of the 1960's, but the term is still used today. The related term Barrio, a specifically Spanish term is also used in the US, whilst internationally other related terms might include slum, favella and to some extent (relating to planning) the French for suburb or banlieue, meaning an edge of city development with similar characteristics as ghettos.
[edit] History of Ghettos
Historically the term ghetto itself originated from the city of Venice in the early 1500's, describing an area of the city where Jewish people were segregated and restricted to live. The area called the Cannaregio sestiere, was split into the new and of old (Ghetto Nuovo and Ghetto Vecchi), these were connected to the rest of the city only by two bridges, open during the day, to the sound of a ringing bell but then closed and locked with gates in the evening. The areas were controlled by guards and all residents had to return to the area before closing or suffer penalties. (image below Didier Descouens - Ponte de Gheto Novo (Venice) Venice, CC BY-SA 4.0 - 2 May 2007).
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[edit] Origins of the term ghetto
The origin of the term is disputed with some saying it relates to the Italian for to discard (gettare) because the area where Jewish people were forced to live at the time was a part of the city which was originally formed from the cities waste or rubbish dump. Others associate it with the Italian for foundry, giotto or geto because the first Jewish quarter was near the cannon foundry of Venice. Yet further explanations relate the term to its meaning as street (Gasse in German), or from borghetto meaning little town or the Hebrew for a divorce document.
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