Ghetto, << GEHT oh, >> is a section of a city settled by a minority ethnic, religious, or nationality group. The term ghetto originally referred to sections of European cities where Jews settled or were forced to live. Today, the term is applied to poverty-stricken areas where Black people and other minority groups are forced to live because of social and economic pressure.
Early ghettos.
Ghettos appeared in Europe as early as A.D. 70, when the Romans reconquered Palestine after a revolt by the Jews. Many Jews moved to Europe then. At first, they settled in separate communities voluntarily, so they could continue their cultural traditions more easily. It was easier to prepare their food according to traditional laws, to live closer to the synagogue, and to have a closer community life. In some places, Jews lived together because they feared other groups.
However, other people later forced Jews to live in ghettos. Religious or political leaders demanded the segregation of Jews, and ghettos became more common. Persecution of the Jews increased about 1100, when the Crusades began. The term ghetto is thought to have been derived from the medieval Venetian word gèto, which meant foundry. The term was probably first used in 1516, when Venice expelled its Jews to an island, within the city, on which a foundry was located. In 1555, Pope Paul IV decreed that Jews in the Papal States, the area around Rome governed by the Roman Catholic Church, had to live in separate quarters. Authorities in the Christian world followed the pope’s example. Crowded ghettos developed that were usually surrounded by walls. The gates were locked at night.
During the 1700’s and 1800’s, most enforced segregation of Jews ended. But Nazi Germany revived the practice of forcing Jews to live in ghettos during World War II (1939-1945). See Warsaw ghetto.
Ghettos today.
The term ghetto later came to refer mostly to large settlements of Black people in United States cities. Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and other Spanish-speaking Americans also have lived in ghettos.
Before World War I (1914-1918), most African Americans lived in the rural South. But industrial jobs during World Wars I and II drew hundreds of thousands of Black people to cities in the North. Almost all of them were poor, unskilled workers. They settled in slum areas near the factories where they worked in the inner city. As slums grew, ghetto conditions worsened. Prejudice and discrimination have made it difficult for African Americans and other minorities to improve these conditions. Legislation has been used to try to eliminate ghetto conditions in the United States. But segregation remains a serious problem.
See also African Americans (Unrest in the cities); Jews (Jews in Christian Europe); Open housing; Segregation; Warsaw ghetto.
