Illusions, Violence, and Gruesome Realities: Life in the American "Ghettoes"
I am one of those people who strictly consider themselves to be "men of the people." Growing up in low-income household with little materialistic possessions, I believed that I understood perfectly what it is like to come from the "lower class." Even as my family's financial conditions grew more stable, I swore by the notion that I will always stand by the proletariat, partially fueled by political beliefs and partially by disgust of rich-world consumerism. But reality often proves me wrong in my naivete.
And certainly, my professed knowledge on social classes may have been a bit too shallow up until now. A quick yet quite comprehensive visit to one of the supposed "ghettos" of San Diego yesterday showed me just how much more there is to learn about the world of the low-income populations. It is humbling to see that compared to some of the people who are truly in need of improvements in their livelihoods, just how lucky and how "not lower class" that my family, even during the lowest points, is.
The meaning of a "ghetto," despite popular stereotypes, should not be simply considered as neighborhoods congregated with people of little income. In fact, a neighborhood becoming filled with low-income people, and indeed, becoming a so-called "ghetto" is but the ultimate end result to long-standing social problems. Th social woes experienced by these neighborhoods act as pull factors to drive away those with the financial resources to leave so that only the poor are unluckily left behind in perpetual misery.
Indeed, my family, when living temporarily in the violence-prone Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, did get out as quickly as we were stable enough to move out. Even with the expensive apartment rent costs in the nicer neighborhoods of Boston, my parents knew that a sense of safety in everyday life is significantly more important than having a bit more savings in the bank account. The social problems associated with the neighborhood must be escaped for me and my brother to grow up with physical and mental health.
These social problems of the typical "ghetto" are often clearly manifested by physical appearances. While the neighborhood does not particularly look that different from anyone at the first glance, a careful second look betrays the existence for many causes of daily misery. The street-side one room casinos are crowded with older men on a Thursday night. Flanking the casinos are money lenders, pawnshops, and liquor stores...basically anything that will keep the gamblers at the tables mentally and financially.
If grown adult men are drinking and wasting away their hard-earned cash on a Thursday night, one would wonder how well they treat their wives and children. And with significant alcohol in the bloodstream and emotions from excessive losing, it is not difficult to imagine how the situation can translate to violence both nearby the casinos and in the form of domestic violence once the men get home. Children of such households grow up without proper nurturing from uncaring parents.
And as they grow up, they take revenge on the equally uncaring society. They form gangs that terrorize the streets where they grow up, making law enforcement and regular education both impossible. One consequence sees real estate prices significantly decreasing, drawing more poor families with dangerous backgrounds into the neighborhood. Rival gangs are created. More violence ensues. And the whole cycle is repeated over and over again, victimizing more and more children in the process.
Any injection of financial or material wealth in such neighborhoods (such as the efforts to "gentry" dangerous downtown areas in many American cities) is futile. All the injected wealth will be squandered by irresponsible residents and lost in incessant violence. The only way to break the cycle of deterioration, as far as I can see, is to remove all children from such neighborhoods in their formative years. Only by educating the young in the proper ways of social behaviors can the gruesome realities of the "ghettos" see the light at the end of the tunnel...
And certainly, my professed knowledge on social classes may have been a bit too shallow up until now. A quick yet quite comprehensive visit to one of the supposed "ghettos" of San Diego yesterday showed me just how much more there is to learn about the world of the low-income populations. It is humbling to see that compared to some of the people who are truly in need of improvements in their livelihoods, just how lucky and how "not lower class" that my family, even during the lowest points, is.
The meaning of a "ghetto," despite popular stereotypes, should not be simply considered as neighborhoods congregated with people of little income. In fact, a neighborhood becoming filled with low-income people, and indeed, becoming a so-called "ghetto" is but the ultimate end result to long-standing social problems. Th social woes experienced by these neighborhoods act as pull factors to drive away those with the financial resources to leave so that only the poor are unluckily left behind in perpetual misery.
Indeed, my family, when living temporarily in the violence-prone Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, did get out as quickly as we were stable enough to move out. Even with the expensive apartment rent costs in the nicer neighborhoods of Boston, my parents knew that a sense of safety in everyday life is significantly more important than having a bit more savings in the bank account. The social problems associated with the neighborhood must be escaped for me and my brother to grow up with physical and mental health.
These social problems of the typical "ghetto" are often clearly manifested by physical appearances. While the neighborhood does not particularly look that different from anyone at the first glance, a careful second look betrays the existence for many causes of daily misery. The street-side one room casinos are crowded with older men on a Thursday night. Flanking the casinos are money lenders, pawnshops, and liquor stores...basically anything that will keep the gamblers at the tables mentally and financially.
If grown adult men are drinking and wasting away their hard-earned cash on a Thursday night, one would wonder how well they treat their wives and children. And with significant alcohol in the bloodstream and emotions from excessive losing, it is not difficult to imagine how the situation can translate to violence both nearby the casinos and in the form of domestic violence once the men get home. Children of such households grow up without proper nurturing from uncaring parents.
And as they grow up, they take revenge on the equally uncaring society. They form gangs that terrorize the streets where they grow up, making law enforcement and regular education both impossible. One consequence sees real estate prices significantly decreasing, drawing more poor families with dangerous backgrounds into the neighborhood. Rival gangs are created. More violence ensues. And the whole cycle is repeated over and over again, victimizing more and more children in the process.
Any injection of financial or material wealth in such neighborhoods (such as the efforts to "gentry" dangerous downtown areas in many American cities) is futile. All the injected wealth will be squandered by irresponsible residents and lost in incessant violence. The only way to break the cycle of deterioration, as far as I can see, is to remove all children from such neighborhoods in their formative years. Only by educating the young in the proper ways of social behaviors can the gruesome realities of the "ghettos" see the light at the end of the tunnel...
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