To be ghetto blasted or the ghetto blaster?

The definition of “ghetto” according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, has three meanings:

1. a quarter of a city in which Jews were formerly required to live.
2. a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure.
3. a. an isolated group and b. a situation that resembles a ghetto especially in conferring inferior status or limiting opportunity

The term “ghetto” is thrown around a lot. For instance, some refer to a boom box as a ghetto blaster. Does that term describe that the boom box projects loudly and that sound will travel throughout a specific area. Or does the term describe that the boom box is only used by a particular minority? I feel like the term ghetto could have originally referred to a specific area, but the term has always associated a group of people with it. During World War II a ghetto described an area where a group of people were required to live based on their religious affiliation. These people were forced to live in the ghetto under the decision of a dictator. There were many consequences associated with this decision. For instance, it made a drastic separation between incomes in that area. The ghetto also caused a decrease in social institutions, therefore breaking the social structure built upon before the separation of the area. The people of these underprivileged groups also experienced a decrease in employment, housing ownership, and schooling. 

The ghetto described by Susan Eaton in The Children In Room E4 was created under different circumstances. Yes, the ghetto was man-made. For instance, in World War II, it was a dictator’s order for a ghetto to be made, and the same person could have removed the order. In Jeremy’s neighborhood the ghetto was created by the real estate agents. “Real estate agents steered blacks in and encouraged whites to move away, pointing them to nearby developing suburbs” (Eaton, 39). The realtors enabled the process of making a ghetto, by selecting who they sold certain houses to in the neighborhoods. The realtors eventually made two completely segregated neighborhoods. Through this segregation the ghetto was formed.

The ghetto of Northeast Hartford was not made a requirement by a dictator but the people of this ghetto were underprivileged. For instance, the residents were all of a specific group, had the same lower class jobs, and were not focused on school. The residents of this ghetto were Puerto Ricans and African Americans. These people were subjected to a ghetto because of their ethnicity. The residents of this ghetto had the same lower class jobs and barely followed the path to a higher class because of their lack of schooling. The limit of schooling could have been their own decision or that they were not given the chance to attend school (due to shootings, family, drugs, etc). The similarities between each person in the ghetto made their life seem normal, therefore why would anyone question their life style if everyone was doing the same thing? The ghetto did seem like a normal world to anyone who hasn’t seen outside of it. 

Being considered a middle class/upper class citizen makes it easy for someone from outside the ghetto to recognize the oppression and the future consequences. Eaton learns in great detail about the ghetto through interviews with children in Ms. Luddy’s classroom. Although Jeremy is one student that has seen both, the ghetto and the world outside the ghetto. In this book, Jeremy is seen as the hope, the chosen one, to prove to his people of the ghetto that there are greater things. I do not think that Eaton can halt the construction on her own. However I do believe that help needs to come from within the ghetto. I believe Jeremy is the one who will bring change to the ghetto, through his accomplishments. Although Jeremy needs to be supported and since the people of his natural place do not see the point, Eaton has a responsibility of being Jeremy’s support.