Written by Lisa Wade; Originally published at Sociological Images
In this minute-and-a-half, sociologist Nikki Jones talks about the way that the idea of the ghetto has been commodified — especially in rap and hip hop — in ways that informs Americans who don’t live in inner-city urban areas, but potentially mystifies the reality of that life as well:
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Detrimental is the key word. I grew up in a Philadelphia neighborhood that would meet every definition of the ghetto. Highest HIV rate, highest homicide rate. I recently graduated with my MS degree and it amazes me the assumptions people make about what my life “must have been like growing up.” People think that images in rap videos and in Law and Order are the only portraits of ghetto life, and while they are an accurate portrait for some these medias do not represent the TOTAL PORTRAIT.