Post by maruf on Mar 13, 2005 2:55:08 GMT -5
Any comments or edits would be helpful.
was-salaam
Ma'ruf
The Ghetto
The community or neighborhood in itself
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Introduction
America is a place that is idealized as being a melting point were immigrants, people of color, whites, blacks, the poor and rich, the religious and irreligious come together to live as one people, Americans. Americans subject to the same laws, equal opportunity, and freedom to pursue the American dream. However, when we have awaken from this dream, as Brother Malcolm (May Allah have mercy on him) said, we “An American nightmare” where people are divided based on race, ethnic background, or nationality. Just ask any Cab driver about which neighborhoods contain which kinds of people, and he will tell you. No other city is as divided as the one we live in Chicago. Where we can point to Greek town, China town, Polish neighborhoods, Latino neighborhoods, Pakistani/Indian neighborhoods, rich neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods and of course the Black neighborhoods. No other race is as ghettoized today as the African American and Latino. The history of the word ghetto starts from when the Jews were cast off to live on an island outside of Italy. So ghettos are places were society’s “outcasts” or undesirables are forced to stay—away from the mainstream of society. The black ghetto is filled with drugs, gang violence, poverty, high unemployment rates due to a lack of jobs—a lack of hope, crime, piles of garbage, abandon buildings, and poor resources. The feeling is depressing, bitter, struggling for survival by any means necessary—even if this means selling crack to your sister or daughter to make ends meat or achieve the American dream of materialism. There is no American dream here or feeling of that America is a melting pot—because all residents are black and poor. Now our brothers and sisters, who are African American Muslims, live in these communities experience these problems. As Muslims we should be aware of their issues because they are a part of us.
I. How ghettos are maintained
These very problems are not a natural phenomenon resulting from the individual acts minus the effects of capitalism and larger society. In other words, people are not choosing to live in such conditions. The black ghettos in America are maintained by overt racism and economic incentives or disincentives to keep them that way. Some of you might be quite shocked to hear this. However, I am sure it is only the minority who are shocked. The ones who actual believe that the American dream is achievable due to one’s hard labor or actions. Do you know that real estate agents will not even sale a black family a home in certain neighborhoods in America for fear that this would drive property values down? This is called “Steering,” an even if they do sell to blacks who want to move out of the ghetto for a better life, once the % of African American families goes beyond 20%, whites move out of the neighborhood because the property values start to go down. They want to protect their investment. So the ghetto in its depressed segregated form is maintained due to capitalistic and racist motives of the ones who want to play they game in order to achieve their material objective, the only one capitalism gave them after all. And even when blacks to manage to climb out of the dirt, it is difficult and perhaps not even desirable that they live amongst affluent whites. Do to the fact that people in America did not melt, immigrants are pushed to identify with those similar to them. So enclaves or little villages of home are created in American cities thus re-enforcing the tribalism and racial turf where if another race is caught in the wrong neighborhood he might face racial slurs or even violence.
II. The feelings about Ghettos
A. no one wants to be there
And after all, if we think honestly about the ghettos in America, no one wants to live in an isolated impoverished depleted devalued neighborhood in the face of affluence and prosperity. Not even the residents of the ghetto themselves want to live there. The ghetto is the only place in America where you can find more liquor stores and crack houses than you can find places of employment. You might not be able to locate a clean park to let your child play in, but you can certainly find the neighborhood crack dealer on the block. Everyone knows this, including the police and politician, but supposedly is stumped at stopping this. What kind of a nation is ambitious enough to one to bring equality and justice to countries thousand of miles away, yet cannot or in reality does not want to solve its ghetto problems?
The ghetto is full of potential that is never cultivated and steered in the right direction. In the ghetto, the common enemy is itself. People fail to see the role of the system in making quality housing inaccessible for the poor. They fail to see how the capitalistic motive constantly makes people chase the carrot and avoid the stick. The economic understanding is that ghettos are needed in order to make us sweat hard in work or school so that we would avoid its reality. Although in reality everyone could never achieve the American dream. There simply aren’t enough quality jobs for those qualified to get them now. So even if people reached their potential, there would have to be enough jobs available for them.
B. No one wants to go there
The fear of gang violence mainly due to drug turf creates an atmosphere where no one wants to go to the ghetto. Not even those who would sincerely want to help the residents. Some Muslims have even told their children not to go there for da’wah activities for this reason. Many taxi drivers would not even take you there if you paid double the fare. Even those who once lived in these types of neighborhoods try to avoid them due to the many social problems mentioned above.
was-salaam
Ma'ruf
The Ghetto
The community or neighborhood in itself
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Introduction
America is a place that is idealized as being a melting point were immigrants, people of color, whites, blacks, the poor and rich, the religious and irreligious come together to live as one people, Americans. Americans subject to the same laws, equal opportunity, and freedom to pursue the American dream. However, when we have awaken from this dream, as Brother Malcolm (May Allah have mercy on him) said, we “An American nightmare” where people are divided based on race, ethnic background, or nationality. Just ask any Cab driver about which neighborhoods contain which kinds of people, and he will tell you. No other city is as divided as the one we live in Chicago. Where we can point to Greek town, China town, Polish neighborhoods, Latino neighborhoods, Pakistani/Indian neighborhoods, rich neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods and of course the Black neighborhoods. No other race is as ghettoized today as the African American and Latino. The history of the word ghetto starts from when the Jews were cast off to live on an island outside of Italy. So ghettos are places were society’s “outcasts” or undesirables are forced to stay—away from the mainstream of society. The black ghetto is filled with drugs, gang violence, poverty, high unemployment rates due to a lack of jobs—a lack of hope, crime, piles of garbage, abandon buildings, and poor resources. The feeling is depressing, bitter, struggling for survival by any means necessary—even if this means selling crack to your sister or daughter to make ends meat or achieve the American dream of materialism. There is no American dream here or feeling of that America is a melting pot—because all residents are black and poor. Now our brothers and sisters, who are African American Muslims, live in these communities experience these problems. As Muslims we should be aware of their issues because they are a part of us.
I. How ghettos are maintained
These very problems are not a natural phenomenon resulting from the individual acts minus the effects of capitalism and larger society. In other words, people are not choosing to live in such conditions. The black ghettos in America are maintained by overt racism and economic incentives or disincentives to keep them that way. Some of you might be quite shocked to hear this. However, I am sure it is only the minority who are shocked. The ones who actual believe that the American dream is achievable due to one’s hard labor or actions. Do you know that real estate agents will not even sale a black family a home in certain neighborhoods in America for fear that this would drive property values down? This is called “Steering,” an even if they do sell to blacks who want to move out of the ghetto for a better life, once the % of African American families goes beyond 20%, whites move out of the neighborhood because the property values start to go down. They want to protect their investment. So the ghetto in its depressed segregated form is maintained due to capitalistic and racist motives of the ones who want to play they game in order to achieve their material objective, the only one capitalism gave them after all. And even when blacks to manage to climb out of the dirt, it is difficult and perhaps not even desirable that they live amongst affluent whites. Do to the fact that people in America did not melt, immigrants are pushed to identify with those similar to them. So enclaves or little villages of home are created in American cities thus re-enforcing the tribalism and racial turf where if another race is caught in the wrong neighborhood he might face racial slurs or even violence.
II. The feelings about Ghettos
A. no one wants to be there
And after all, if we think honestly about the ghettos in America, no one wants to live in an isolated impoverished depleted devalued neighborhood in the face of affluence and prosperity. Not even the residents of the ghetto themselves want to live there. The ghetto is the only place in America where you can find more liquor stores and crack houses than you can find places of employment. You might not be able to locate a clean park to let your child play in, but you can certainly find the neighborhood crack dealer on the block. Everyone knows this, including the police and politician, but supposedly is stumped at stopping this. What kind of a nation is ambitious enough to one to bring equality and justice to countries thousand of miles away, yet cannot or in reality does not want to solve its ghetto problems?
The ghetto is full of potential that is never cultivated and steered in the right direction. In the ghetto, the common enemy is itself. People fail to see the role of the system in making quality housing inaccessible for the poor. They fail to see how the capitalistic motive constantly makes people chase the carrot and avoid the stick. The economic understanding is that ghettos are needed in order to make us sweat hard in work or school so that we would avoid its reality. Although in reality everyone could never achieve the American dream. There simply aren’t enough quality jobs for those qualified to get them now. So even if people reached their potential, there would have to be enough jobs available for them.
B. No one wants to go there
The fear of gang violence mainly due to drug turf creates an atmosphere where no one wants to go to the ghetto. Not even those who would sincerely want to help the residents. Some Muslims have even told their children not to go there for da’wah activities for this reason. Many taxi drivers would not even take you there if you paid double the fare. Even those who once lived in these types of neighborhoods try to avoid them due to the many social problems mentioned above.