Cora Daniels journeys into New York City's Ghettonation

by Jessica Lief '07

Thursday November 29, 2007

What does the word “Ghetto” actually refer to? Is it a place, a mindset, or a style? Is it the music one listens to or the language one uses? In the current pop-culture lingo, “ghetto” is associated with brazen bling, sexual irresponsibility, and perpetual adolescence. Whatever the term “ghetto” officially means, it and the so-called “ghetto mentality” are now deeply embedded in all aspects of American society, from street corners to music videos to institutions of higher education.

In Cora Daniels’ new book, Ghettonation: A Journey into the Land of Ghetto and Home of the Shameless, she explains that “ghetto” no longer refers to the block one lives on but rather to how one conducts his or her life.

Racial divides and other socio-economic divisions no longer limit the new ghetto; on the contrary, “ghetto” pervades American culture through popular music, movies, and books. Ghettonation is essentially a critique of America’s adoption of a ghetto persona that demeans women, devalues education, and glorifies the worst African American stereotypes.

Daniels also exposes the central role of corporate America in exploiting the trend of “ghettoness,” highlighting the manner in which rappers such as Lil’ John, raised in middle-class homes, have employed the current cultural currency of ghettoness to sell records.

“It’s not okay to go into the Halloween store and see pimps and hos costumes for my children,” Daniels said. “It’s not okay for me to go into the drugstore and the drugstore clerk’s acrylic nails are too long to type at the register. It’s not okay for every woman in America to need to learn to pole dance. It’s not okay that pole dancing sticks are sold in the toy section of the drugstore. Like any illness, the symptoms are hard to detect and we are infected with ghetto.”

Daniels claimed during a recent appearance at Sarah Lawrence, “I wrote the book because I’m tired of [the prevalence of ghetto]; as a journalist and a black woman, I wanted to call attention to it.”
Daniels’ research for the book consisted of hanging out on street corners in New York City, asking teenagers what they thought “ghetto” was. Most of the teenagers she spoke to found no trouble expounding on what ghetto meant to them. She then asked what “success” meant to them. This was frequently followed by blank stares.

Daniels offers no simple solution to the spread of the “ghetto” illness. She concluded that “it was a gradual slide down and it is going to be a gradual climb upward. Each of us needs to raise our expectations and have self respect.”