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thebibliosphere:
Re my tags on a previous post where I used the word “ghetto” and people thinking it’s a racist anti-black comment: the word ghetto is not exclusive to American or Black culture, it’s a large part of it, but it’s not exclusive. It has been used to describe urban slum dwelling areas for centuries, particularly wherever migrants moved in—usually Italian (where the word comes from) or Jewish—but soon expanded to include other cultures too as it rose into popular vernacular.
Glasgow? Has a lot of ghettos, and that word has been used to describe Scots language and regional dialects for several centuries to try and “other” it, along with other foreign dialects that were seen to be lesser than Pure English. It’s a poverty thing at its roots. Poverty, class warfare and a good heaping of xenophobia.
I’m not trying to steal a term here, or to minimize how that word is used (and apologize for that misconception if you thought that, that was not my meaning) to try and put people in there place. I am using it within the appropriate linguistic and sociological context in that it is used as derogatory term and to “other” a valid spoken language.
Part of the reason Scottish people get ticked off when people say “what language is this???” and act like we just don’t know how to spell or, in one memorable incident here on tumblr—try to accuse us of using AAVE—is part of this continual mockery that has gone hand in hand with our cultural erasure for several centuries, while other parts of it are cherry picked to promote a romantic, predominantly White (and I don’t have the time right now to go into how wrong that perception is) notion of castles, kilts and shortbread, like our past is a fairy tale and not linked directly to the current cultural climate of continued poverty, degradation and shame.
And naw, this isnae a white people bawlin thing, this is xenephobia and class warfare thing that has been goin on for quite a wee bitty while longer than tumblr’s perception of word appropriation and call out posts. There are many words that belong in Black Culture, reclaimed or otherwise, that should not be used by others (but inevitably are). Ghetto isn’t one of them.
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thebibliosphere:
Re my tags on a previous post where I used the word “ghetto” and people thinking it’s a racist anti-black comment: the word ghetto is not exclusive to American or Black culture, it’s a large part of it, but it’s not exclusive. It has been used to describe urban slum dwelling areas for centuries, particularly wherever migrants moved in—usually Italian (where the word comes from) or Jewish—but soon expanded to include other cultures too as it rose into popular vernacular.
Glasgow? Has a lot of ghettos, and that word has been used to describe Scots language and regional dialects for several centuries to try and “other” it, along with other foreign dialects that were seen to be lesser than Pure English. It’s a poverty thing at its roots. Poverty, class warfare and a good heaping of xenophobia.
I’m not trying to steal a term here, or to minimize how that word is used (and apologize for that misconception if you thought that, that was not my meaning) to try and put people in there place. I am using it within the appropriate linguistic and sociological context in that it is used as derogatory term and to “other” a valid spoken language.
Part of the reason Scottish people get ticked off when people say “what language is this???” and act like we just don’t know how to spell or, in one memorable incident here on tumblr—try to accuse us of using AAVE—is part of this continual mockery that has gone hand in hand with our cultural erasure for several centuries, while other parts of it are cherry picked to promote a romantic, predominantly White (and I don’t have the time right now to go into how wrong that perception is) notion of castles, kilts and shortbread, like our past is a fairy tale and not linked directly to the current cultural climate of continued poverty, degradation and shame.
And naw, this isnae a white people bawlin thing, this is xenephobia and class warfare thing that has been goin on for quite a wee bitty while longer than tumblr’s perception of word appropriation and call out posts. There are many words that belong in Black Culture, reclaimed or otherwise, that should not be used by others (but inevitably are). Ghetto isn’t one of them.
(Your picture was not posted)
