Originally used in
VeniceThe Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were compelled to live under the Venetian Republic. It is from its name, in the Venetian language, that the word "ghetto", used in many languages, is derived.-Etymology:...
to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live, a
ghetto is now described as a "portion of a city in which members of a
minority groupA minority is a sociological group that does not constitute a politically dominant voting majority of the total population of a given society. A sociological minority is not necessarily a numerical minority — it may include any group that is subnormal with respect to a dominant group in terms of...
live; especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure."
Etymology
The word "ghetto" actually comes from the word "getto" or "gheto", which means
slagSlag is a partially vitreous by-product of smelting ore to separating the metal fraction from the worthless fraction. It can be considered to be a mixture of metal oxides; however, slags can contain metal sulfides and metal atoms in the elemental form...
in
VenetianVenetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy. The language is called vèneto or vènet in Venetian, veneto in Italian; the variant spoken in Venice is called venexiàn/venesiàn or veneziano, respectively...
, and was used in this sense in a reference to a foundry where slag was stored located on the same island as the area of Jewish confinement. An alternative etymology is from Italian
borghetto, diminutive of
borgo ‘borough’.
The corresponding
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
term was
Judengasse (lit.
Jew's Lane) known as the
Jewish QuarterIn the Jewish Diaspora, a Jewish quarter is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian authorities. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or...
.
History
The term came into widespread use in
Ghettos in occupied Europe 1939-1944During World War II ghettos were established by the German Nazis to confine Jews and sometimes Gypsies into tightly packed areas of the cities of Eastern Europe turning them into de-facto concentration camps...
where the Jews were required to live prior to their transportation to
concentration and death camps.
The definition of "ghetto" still has a similar meaning, but referring to broader range of social situations, such as any poverty-stricken
urban areaAn urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
.
A ghetto is formed in three ways:
- As ports of illegal entry for racial minorities, and immigrant racial minorities.
- When the majority uses compulsion (typically violence, hostility, or legal barriers) to force minorities into particular areas.
- When economic conditions make it difficult for minority members to live in non-minority areas.
Jewish ghettos
In the
Jewish diasporaThe Jewish diaspora , the presence of Jews outside of the Land of Israel, is a result of the expulsion or emigration of Jews from Israel...
, a
Jewish quarterIn the Jewish Diaspora, a Jewish quarter is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian authorities. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or...
is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s. Jewish quarters, like the
Jewish ghettos in EuropeJewish ghettos in Europe existed because Jews were viewed as that they were foreigners due to their non-Christian beliefs in a Renaissance Christian environment. As a result, Jews were placed under strict regulations throughout many European cities. The character of ghettos has varied through times...
, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian authorities or in World War Two, the Nazis. A
YiddishYiddish is a non-territorial High German language of Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world...
term for a Jewish quarter or neighborhood is
"Di yiddishe gas" , or "The Jewish street". Many
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an and
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern cities once had a historical Jewish quarter and some still have it.
Jewish ghettos in EuropeJewish ghettos in Europe existed because Jews were viewed as that they were foreigners due to their non-Christian beliefs in a Renaissance Christian environment. As a result, Jews were placed under strict regulations throughout many European cities. The character of ghettos has varied through times...
existed because
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s were viewed as alien due to being a cultural minority and due to their non-Christian beliefs in a Renaissance Christian environment. As a result, Jews were placed under strict regulations throughout many European cities. The character of ghettos has varied through times. In some cases, the ghetto was a
Jewish quarterIn the Jewish Diaspora, a Jewish quarter is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian authorities. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or...
with a relatively affluent population (for instance the Jewish ghetto in Venice). In other cases, ghettos were places of terrible poverty and during periods of population growth, ghettos had narrow streets and tall, crowded houses. Residents had their own justice system. Around the ghetto stood walls that, during
pogromA pogrom is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centers...
s, were closed from inside to protect the community, but from the outside during
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
, Pesach, and
Easter WeekEaster Week or Bright Week is the period of seven days from Easter Sunday through the Saturday following.-Western Church:In the Latin Rite of Roman Catholicism, Anglican and other Western churches, Easter Week is the week beginning with the Christian feast of Easter and ending a week later on...
to prevent the Jews from leaving during those times.
A
mellahA mellah is a walled Jewish quarter of a city in Morocco, an analogue of the European ghetto. Jewish population were confined to mellahs in Morocco beginning from the 15th century and especially since the early 19th century.In cities, a mellah was surrounded by a wall with a fortified gateway...
(
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
ملاح, probably from the word ملح, Arabic for "salt") is a walled
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish quarter of a city in
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
, an analogue of the European ghetto. Jewish populations were confined to mellahs in Morocco beginning from the 15th century and especially since the early 19th century. In cities, a
mellah was surrounded by a wall with a fortified gateway. Usually, the Jewish quarter was situated near the royal palace or the residence of the governor, in order to protect its inhabitants from recurring riots. In contrast, rural
mellahs were separate villages inhabited solely by the Jews.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
,
ghettos in occupied Europe 1939-1944During World War II ghettos were established by the German Nazis to confine Jews and sometimes Gypsies into tightly packed areas of the cities of Eastern Europe turning them into de-facto concentration camps...
were established by the
NazisNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
to confine
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s and sometimes Gypsies into tightly packed areas of the cities of
Eastern EuropeEastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly context-dependent and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, turning them into
de-facto concentration camps and death camps in
the HolocaustThe Holocaust , also known as The Shoah is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a program of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany,...
. Though the common usage is ghetto, the Nazis most often referred to these areas in documents and signage at their entrances as
Judischer Wohnbezirk or
Wohngebiet der Juden (German); both translate as
Jewish QuarterIn the Jewish Diaspora, a Jewish quarter is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian authorities. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or...
. These Nazi ghettos used to concentrate Jews before extermination sometimes coincided with traditional Jewish ghettos and Jewish quarters, but not always. Expediency was the key factor for the Nazis in the
Final SolutionThe Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the final, most deadly phase of the Holocaust...
. Nazi ghettos as stepping stones on the road to the extermination of European Jewry existed for varying amounts of time, usually the function of the number of Jews who remained to be killed but also because of the employment of Jews as slave labor by the
WehrmachtWehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
and other German institutions, until
Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler , one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, served as Chief of the German Police and Minister of the Interior...
's decree issued on June 21, 1943, ordering the dissolution of all ghettos in the East and their transformation into concentration camps.
Post War
After World War II, ghettos in the soviet bloc were subject to purges of Jews by soviets. Many emigrated to the USA and Israel. With the cold war progressing, industry was spread across the major cities and work assignments were given out. Outcasts, gypsies and the uneducated poor were trucked as supplementary workforce and these vacant ghettos were given to them as homes. In turn, these areas became very dangerous and are still this way today. One prominent example is the Kasimir neighborhood of
KrakowKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
. Because of the problem, many private security forces exist in the city that are commonly hired for tourist groups that wish to visit such unfortunately placed landmarks.
History
The
IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The Irish...
immigrants of the 19th century were the first ethnic group to form
ethnic enclaveAn ethnic enclave, or ethnic neighborhood is a neighborhood, district, or suburb which retains some cultural distinction from a larger, surrounding area. Sometimes an entire city may have such a feel. Usually the enclave revolves around businesses that are run by the members of the community. They...
s in America’s cities, followed by
ItaliansThe Italian people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Italian culture, descent, and speaking the Italian language as a mother tongue...
and Poles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Italian and Eastern European immigrants in the early twentieth century actually were more segregated than blacks of that era. Most Europeans lived like bannahs immigrants, the second or third generation families were able to relocate to better housing in the suburbs after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
if possible.
Other ethnic ghettos were the
Lower East SideThe Lower East Side is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, E. Houston, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street...
in Manhattan, New York, which, until the 1990s , was predominantly Jewish, and
Spanish HarlemSpanish Harlem, also known as El Barrio and East Harlem, is a predominantly low income neighborhood in Harlem, a neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States, in the north-eastern part of the borough of Manhattan. Spanish Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in...
, which was home to a large
Puerto RicanPuerto Ricans in the mainland Puerto Ricans in the mainland Puerto Ricans in the mainland (or "Puerto Rican Diaspora," "Nuyorican", "stateside or mainland Puerto Ricans" or, Puerto Rican American are Americans of Puerto Rican origin, including those who migrated to the United States mainland...
community dated back to the 1930s.
Little ItalyLittle Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Calgary, in Alberta*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta...
s across the country were predominantly Italian ghettos. Many Polish immigrants moved to sections like Pilsen of Chicago and Polish Hills of Pittsburgh, and
Brighton BeachBrighton Beach is a community on Coney Island in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City.-Location:Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island at Ocean Parkway to the west, affluent Manhattan Beach at Corbin Place to the east, Gravesend at Neptune Avenue to the north , and the Atlantic Ocean to the...
is the home of mostly Russian and Ukrainian immigrants.
In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, between the abolition of
slaverySlavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...
and the passing of the
civil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights and freedoms that protect individuals from unwarranted government action and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression....
laws of the 1960s, discriminatory
moresMores is the Latin term for societal norms, customs, virtues or values. Mores derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written laws...
(sometimes codified in
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
, or through
redliningRedlining is the practice of denying, or increasing the cost of, services such as banking, insurance, access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in certain, often racially determined, areas. The term "redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by community activists in...
) often forced urban
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
s to live in specific neighborhoods, which became known as "ghettos." Since the 1980s, urban renewal projects and
gentrificationGentrification and urban gentrification denote the socio-economic, commercial, and demographic change in an urban area resulting from wealthier people buying housing property in a poor community...
began to slowly replace the ghetto with upper-income neighborhoods in most US major cities.
Black ghettos
Urban areas in the US can often be classified as "black" or "white", with the inhabitants primarily belonging to a homogenous racial grouping.. Forty years after the African-American civil rights era (1955-1968), the United States remains a residentially segregated society in which blacks and whites inhabit different neighborhoods of vastly different quality. Cities throughout history have contained distinct ethnic districts but they have rarely been as isolated and impoverished as some of the African American neighborhoods found in U.S. cities. The racial segregation found in ghettos can lead to social, economic and political tensions.
Due to segregated conditions and widespread
povertyPoverty is the condition of lacking basic human needs such as nutrition, clean water, health care, clothing, and shelter because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to as absolute poverty or destitution...
some black neighborhoods in the United States have been called "ghettos". Most of these neighborhoods are in Northeastern cities where African Americans moved during
The Great MigrationThe Great Migration was the movement of 1.3 million African-Americans out of the Southern United States to the North, Midwest and West from 1910 to 1930. Precise estimates of the number of migrants depend on the time frame. African Americans migrated to escape racism and seek employment...
(1914-1950) a period when over a million African Americans moved out of the rural
Southern United StatesThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
to escape the widespread
racismRacism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment...
of the South, to seek out employment opportunities in urban environments, and to pursue what was widely perceived to be a better life in the North. In the Midwest, neighborhoods were built on high wages from manufacturing jobs. However, segregation increased most in those cities with the greatest black in-migration.
In the years following
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, many
white AmericanWhite American is an umbrella term officially employed by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget and other U.S...
s began to move away from inner cities to newer
suburbSuburbs are defined in various different ways around the world. They can be the residential areas of a large city, or separate residential communities within commuting distance of a city. Some suburbs have a degree of political autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city...
an communities, a process known as
white flightWhite flight is the sociologic and demographic term denoting the trend wherein white people flee desegregated urban communities, and move to other places like commuter towns; although an American coinage, “white flight” denotes like behavior in other countries. In the U.S. the Brown v...
. White flight occurred, in part, as a response to black people moving into white urban neighborhoods, and remains a significant cause in the spread of
urban decayUrban decay is the sociological process whereby a city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude, with depopulation or changing population, economic restructuring, abandoned buildings, high local unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement, crime, and a desolate,...
. Discriminatory practices, especially those intended to "preserve" emerging white suburbs, restricted the ability of blacks to move from inner-cities to suburbs, even when they were economically able to afford it. In contrast to this, the same period in history marked a massive suburban expansion available primarily to whites of both wealthy and working class backgrounds, facilitated through highway construction and the availability of federally subsidized home mortgages (
VAVA may be an abbreviation for:* Validation Authority, in Public key infrastructure* Value added, economic term meaning additional value of the product created on a given stage of production, marketing or other involved process...
,
FHAFHA may mean:* Federal Housing Administration. See also FHA loan.* Civil Rights Act of 1968 -- In particular, Title VIII of the Act, also known as the Fair Housing Act* Forced Hot Air heating* Future Homemakers of America* Functional hazard analysis...
, HOLC). These made it easier for families to buy new homes in the suburbs, but not to rent apartments in cities.
In response to the influx of black people from the South, banks, insurance companies, and businesses began denying or increasing the cost of services, such as banking,
insuranceInsurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed and known...
, access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in certain, often racially determined, areas. The most devastating form of redlining, and the most common use of the term, refers to
mortgage discriminationMortgage discrimination or mortgage lending discrimination is the practice of banks, governments or other lending institutions denying loans to one or more groups of people primarily on the basis of race, ethnic origin, sex or religion...
. Data on house prices and attitudes toward integration suggest that in the mid-twentieth century, segregation was a product of collective actions taken by non-blacks to exclude blacks from outside neighborhoods
The "Racial" Provisions of FHA Underwriting Manual of 1938, included the following guidelines which exacerbated the segregation issue:
Recommended restrictions should include provision for:
prohibition of the occupancy of properties except by the race for which they are intended …Schools should be appropriate to the needs of the new community and they should not be attended in large numbers by inharmonious racial groups.
This meant that ethnic minorities could secure
mortgage loanA mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a document which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
s only in certain areas, and it resulted in a large increase in the residential
racial segregationRacial segregation is the separation of different racial groups in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a washroom, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home. Segregation may be mandated by law or exist through social...
and
urban decayUrban decay is the sociological process whereby a city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude, with depopulation or changing population, economic restructuring, abandoned buildings, high local unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement, crime, and a desolate,...
in the United States. The creation of new highways in some cases divided and isolated black neighborhoods from goods and services, many times within industrial corridors. For example,
BirminghamBirmingham is the largest city in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County and includes part of Shelby County. According to a 2007 estimate, the city had a population of 229,800 The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2008 census estimates,...
’s interstate highway system attempted to maintain the racial boundaries that had been established by the city’s 1926 racial zoning law. The construction of interstate highways through black neighborhoods in the city led to significant population loss in those neighborhoods and is associated with an increase in neighborhood racial segregation. By 1990, the legal barriers enforcing segregation had been replaced by decentralized racism, where whites pay more than blacks to live in predominantly white areas. Some social scientists suggest that the historical processes of
suburbanizationSuburbanization is a term used to describe the growth of areas on the fringes of major cities. It is one of the many causes of the increase in urban sprawl...
and decentralization are instances of white privilege that have contributed to contemporary patterns of
environmental racismEnvironmental racism refers to intentional or unintentional racial discrimination in the enforcement of environmental rules and regulations, the intentional or unintentional targeting of minority communities for the siting of polluting industries, or the exclusion of minority groups from public and...
.
Despite mainstream America’s use of the term "ghetto" to signify a poor, culturally or racially-homogenous urban area, those living in the area often used it to signify something positive. The black ghettos did not always contain dilapidated houses and deteriorating projects, nor were all of its residents poverty-stricken. For many African Americans, the ghetto was "home": a place representing authentic blackness and a feeling, passion, or emotion derived from rising above the struggle and suffering of being black in America.
Langston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes, was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry...
relays in the "Negro Ghetto" (1931) and "The Heart of Harlem" (1945): "The buildings in Harlem are brick and stone/And the streets are long and wide,/But Harlem’s much more than these alone,/Harlem is what’s inside." Playwright
August WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright. His literary legacy is the ten play series, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
used the term "ghetto" in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984) and Fences (1987), both of which draw upon the author’s experience growing up in the Hill district of Pittsburgh, a black ghetto.
Other ghettos
ChinatownA Chinatown is a section of an urban area with a large number of Chinese residents, usually outside of Greater China. Chinatowns are present throughout the world, including those in East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe....
s originated as racially segregated enclaves where most
Chinese immigrantsOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the territories administered by the rival governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
settled from the 1850s onward. Major Chinatowns emerged in
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
;
CamdenThe City of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
and
Trenton, New JerseyTrenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the City of Trenton had a population of 82,804....
;
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
;
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
,
OaklandOakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
, and San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
;
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
; New Orleans; Philadelphia;
Portland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the state of Oregon. As of July 2008, it has an estimated population of 575,930, making it the 29th most populous in the United States. It has been referred to as the most...
; Seattle;
VancouverVancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by English Bay, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a...
;
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
and other major cities. Today, most Chinese Americans no longer reside in those urban areas, but post-1970s
Asian immigration{Infobox Ethnic group|group = Asian American|image =Graduation Rate! align="CENTER" | Bachelor's Degree
or More|-| align="LEFT" | Asian Indians| align="RIGHT" | 90.2%| align="RIGHT" | 67.9%|-| align="LEFT" | Filipinos| align="RIGHT" | 90.8%...
from
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
and the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
have repopulated many Chinatowns. Many
Little ItalyLittle Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Calgary, in Alberta*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta...
s, Chinatowns (or
KoreatownKoreatown is a term to describe a Korean ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area. Other terms may be such as Little Seoul or Little Korea.-Buenos Aires:...
s and
Little TokyoLittle Tokyo may refer to:* Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California* Another term for a Japantown* Shigeri Akabane, Japanese professional wrestler...
s) and other ethnic neighbourhoods have become more middle-class in recent times, dominated by successful restaurant owners, family-owned stores and businessmen able to start up their own companies. Many have become tourist attractions in their own right.
In the United States, many
HispanicHispanic is a term that historically denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania . During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain....
immigrants from
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Central America, and the Caribbean concentrated in
barrioBarrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
s located in cities with large Hispanic populations such as
Modesto, CaliforniaModesto is the county seat of Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 211,156 as of April 2009, Modesto ranks as the 16th largest city in the state of California. Modesto is located in Northern California, just 92 miles east of San Francisco, 68 miles south of the state...
;
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
;
AnaheimAnaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of January 1, 2009, the city population was about 348,467, making it the 10th most-populated city in California and ranked 54th in the United States. The city anticipates that the population will surpass 400,000 by 2014 due to rapid development...
,
BrawleyBrawley is a city in Imperial County, California, United States. Brawley is located north of El Centro. The population was 22,052 at the 2000 census. The town has a significant cattle and feed industry, and hosts the annual Cattle Call Rodeo. Year-round agriculture is an important economic...
,
ChinoChino is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 67,168 at the 2000 census.Chino and its surroundings have long been a center of agriculture and dairy farming, serving the considerable demands for milk products in Southern California and much of the...
,
CoachellaCoachella is a city in Riverside County, California; it is the easternmost city in the region collectively known as the Coachella Valley...
,
El CentroEl Centro is the county seat of Imperial County, California, United States and the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the region east of San Diego. It is also the largest U.S. city to lie entirely below sea level . El Centro is Spanish, and means the center...
,
El MonteEl Monte is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is a suburb of Los Angeles. The city's slogans are "the end of the Santa Fe Trail" and "Welcome to Friendly El Monte." As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 115,965. As of 2002, El Monte is the 191st...
,
FresnoFresno is a city in California, USA, the county seat of Fresno County. As of February 27, 2009, the population was estimated at 500,017, making it the fifth largest city in California and the 36th largest in the nation...
,
HuronHuron is a small town in Fresno County, California, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,306. During the harvest season, the population swells to over 15,000 people due to the influx of migrant farm workers...
,
IndioIndio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, east of San Bernardino, and east of Los Angeles. The population was 49,116 at the 2000 census...
,
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
,
Long BeachLong Beach is a large city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast. It is situated in Los Angeles County, about south of downtown Los Angeles. Long Beach borders Orange County on its southeast edge....
, Moreno Valley,
National CityNational City is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 54,260 at the 2000 census. National City is the second oldest city in San Diego County with a historic past.-History:...
,
OaklandOakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
,
OceansideOceanside is the third-largest city in San Diego County, California, United States. The city has a population of about 179,681. Together with Vista and Carlsbad, it forms a tri-city area. The city is located just south of Camp Pendleton, the busiest military base in the United States. Oceanside has...
,
RiversideRiverside is the largest city in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area of Southern California, and is approximately 60 miles east of Los Angeles, and 12 miles southwest of San Bernardino. Riverside is the county seat of Riverside County, and is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River...
,
San BernardinoSan Bernardino is a large city located in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area of Southern California. San Bernardino is also the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. San Bernardino's estimated population, as of 2006, is 205,010. As of 2006, it was the 18th largest city...
, San Diego, San Francisco,
San JoseSan Jose or San José is the third-largest city in California and the tenth-largest in the United States. The county seat of Santa Clara County, it is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region commonly referred to as Silicon Valley...
, and
Santa Ana, CaliforniaSanta Ana is the county seat and most populous city in Orange County, California, and the 53rd-most populous city in the United States with a 2007 estimated population of 339,555...
; Dallas, Houston,
El PasoEl Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and part of the American Southwest. According to the United States Census Bureau's 2006 population estimates, the city had a population of 606,913. It is the sixth-largest city in Texas and the 22nd-largest city in...
, and San Antonio, Texas;
AllentownAllentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 106,632...
and
Reading, PennsylvaniaReading is a city and the county seat of Berks County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the center of the Greater Reading Area...
;
PhoenixPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
,
TucsonSouth Tucson is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States and an enclave of the much larger city of Tucson. South Tucson is known for being heavily influenced by Hispanic, and especially Mexican, culture; restaurants and shops which sell traditional Mexican foods and other goods can be found...
, and
Yuma, ArizonaYuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 Census Bureau estimated population of 87,423....
;
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
;
Oklahoma CityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
;
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
and
Sterling, IllinoisSterling is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,451 at the 2000 census. Formerly nicknamed "The Hardware Capital of the World", Sterling has long been associated with manufacturing and the steel industry.-Geography:...
. Many of these cities struggled with issues of crime, drugs, youth gangs and family breakdown. However, middle-class and college-educated Hispanics moved out of barrios for other neighborhoods or the suburbs. The
barrios continually thrived by the large influx of immigration from Mexico, this largely due to the explosion of the
LatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent."* "A Latin American."...
population in the late 20th century. The majority of residents in these urban
barrios are immigrants directly from
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
United Kingdom
The existence of
ethnic enclaveAn ethnic enclave, or ethnic neighborhood is a neighborhood, district, or suburb which retains some cultural distinction from a larger, surrounding area. Sometimes an entire city may have such a feel. Usually the enclave revolves around businesses that are run by the members of the community. They...
s in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
is controversial.
Southall BroadwaySouthall is a suburb in the London Borough of Ealing, West London. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, where less than 12 percent of the population is white, has been cited as an example of a 'ghetto', but in reality the area is home to a number of different ethnic groups and religious groups. Analysis of data from
Census 2001A nationwide census, commonly known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census....
revealed that only two wards in
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a legal unit within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales follow the legal system known as English law, and the two form the constitutional successor to the...
, both in
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
, had one dominant non-white ethnic group comprising more than two-thirds of the local population, but there were 20 wards where
whitesWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
were a minority making up less than a third of the local population. By 2001, two London boroughs -
NewhamThe London Borough of Newham is a London borough in East London, within Greater London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames...
and
BrentThe London Borough of Brent is a London borough in North-West London, UK and forms part of Outer London. The major area is Wembley.It borders Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east and Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Kensington & Chelsea to the south, and...
- had 'minority majority' populations, and most parts of the city tend to have a diverse population. Since 2001, many more locations in the UK (including several London boroughs) have seen a change in ethnic makeup and numerous wards and boroughs in the country have 'minority majority' populations.
Other uses
Ghetto is used sometimes in Britain to refere to a place one wouldn't want to live, or where there are a vast majority of the
underclassThe social structure of Britain is organised according to several cultural phenomena. Traditionally, in England, Scotland and Wales, people have been under a meritocracy and plutocracy, with the British Royal Family and/or their ancestors, heading their subjects...
or
lower Working classThe social structure of Britain is organised according to several cultural phenomena. Traditionally, in England, Scotland and Wales, people have been under a meritocracy and plutocracy, with the British Royal Family and/or their ancestors, heading their subjects...
living rather than somewhere racially different.