I thought it was interesting how Fullilove discussed meanings of the word “ghetto” and differentiates this from what a “slum” is. According to Fullilove, a Ghetto is an area of enforced residence due to membership in a particular ethnic or religious group, whereas a slum by contrast is an area marked by poverty and worn out housing. The map Fullilove provides, showing how poor areas tend to clump in urban centers with wealthier enclaves on the outskirts, the barriers marked by acts of vandalism was highly interesting. She is implying residents are contained and enforced to continue living in the ghetto due to general discrimination from those outside the area. As professor Braine mentioned on our field trip to look at the 3D map of NYC and our discussion of public housing, in some areas you are “Once a tower kid always a tower kid.” This is to say the stigma of where you grow up will follow you. Fullilove made several interesting inferences in her discussion of African American ghettos. First, she implied that for the people living there it is close to a warm, friendly place, with strong communal support and ties. Given that my experience of “ghettos” I’ve visited or people I’ve known who have grown up in such areas is post the crack epidemic and American crime wave, when I say I am skeptical of her assertions it may be because I cannot imagine a 1960s ghetto. The second interesting connection she makes is the implication that the end of segregation led to the end of the “supportive” African American ghetto; the end of this kind of idealized nurturing community. I would ask what a ghetto is to you, and how would you define it?

-Jesse Geisler