Book Review by Brittany Brown

Ghettonation

By: Cora Daniels

The author, Cora Daniels, is an award-winning journalist, and she describes in the book, Ghettonation, the process in which the behavior that is typically associated with African-Americans in the inner-city, i.e. the ghetto, is becoming more prevalent in mainstream America. Daniels identifies particular characteristics that she has noticed in her thirty years as an observer of “ghetto” behavior that she feels qualifies her as an expert on the phenomenon. Also, Daniels acknowledges that this phenomenon is afflicting significant segments of blacks in the country, and that this is a negative phenomenon that perpetuates negative stereotypes of African-Americans. However, before a critical analysis of the text can be given, an explanation of what Daniels means by “ghetto” is needed.
The most common denotation of “ghetto” is usually something similar to the following: an economically depressed community inhabited by low-income minorities. It is a physically tangible place, with borders that can be entered and exited. This is indeed similar to the definition that is given by Daniels, but her introduction offers multiple  denotations in the form of a dictionary excerpt. Among them is that “ghetto” means “behavior that makes you say ‘Huh?,’actions that seem to go against basic home training and common sense,” and also that it is “used to describe something with inferior status or limited opportunity...”

Two things should be of note with these definitions. The first is that obviously, the term “ghetto,” for Daniels, comes with negative connotations. Second, as opposed to the first definition of “ghetto,” the latter definitions indicate not a place that one can just travel to, but a state of mind. This is a claim that Daniels tends to follow throughout the length of the book. It is that the idea of “ghetto” is no longer reserved for locations. Daniels’ ghetto is a mindset that individuals can have in their heads, so this shows that not just the area is “ghettoized” or affected negatively, but there also exists this same infection within the people.

There is much to say about this connotation of the word though. Sure it is used quite frequently by many in the manner that Daniels uses it, but Daniels’ proclamation that “ghetto” is infiltrating mainstream America is a bit overblown. In the introduction to the book, Daniels describes two television incidents that made her realize that “ghetto” is a mindset. In one incident, Martha Stewart said about herself, “Oh, I can get ghetto when I need to.” In the other, Paris Hilton, during an episode of the show, “The Simple Life,” mentioned that a truck was “ghetto” when it would not start. Daniels says that when she heard Stewart, who she calls “queen of all that is proper,” and Hilton, the multi-million dollar heiress, use the word, she knew that it was a more prevalent issue than she had previously believed.

These two incidents do not indicate some pandemic that has swept the nation however. If anything, it only implies that certain features of African-American culture have become more widely accepted into the American mainstream. In this case, it is language. The suggestion that because Stewart and Hilton said “ghetto” is evidence of the prevalence of the mindset is highly unlikely. It only represents the adoption of popular speech into high society, not the development of a Ghettonation.

The beginning of each chapter of Ghettonation begins with a section “That’s so ghetto...” In it, Daniels has lists of things one can consider typical of the ghetto. Such lists include ways people in the ghetto supposedly speak, the way they dress, their diet, actual quotes heard by the author, the supposed behavior of ghetto inhabitants, as well as their financial habits. This also does not help advance her point. It is merely a list of stereotypical behavior compiled by the author, and offers no information that proves the “ghettoization” of America.

Also, Daniels’ lists do not necessarily represent anything negative as her definition of “ghetto” suggests. For example, the first line under the “What We Say” section is an example of a particular way of speaking common in African-American vernacular English (AAVE). It is the phrase “I seen” such as in “I seen that movie.” This is a sentence structure that is common among numerous groups of African-Americans across the country. There is nothing dangerous to the nation about this. It appears that the author is making a common mistake. Daniels is guilty of mainstream chauvinism in that she assumes that, because a particular behavior or peculiarity that a certain demographic possesses is different from the mainstream of a population, it is thus flawed in comparison. This is the case with regard to “ghetto” speech or AAVE. African-Americans have a history and culture quite distinct from that of mainstream America, and part of this difference is reflected in language. It would be interesting to see what position Daniels would take if the way of speaking under discussion was Cockney English. Would she still consider this dialect of English just as bad as AAVE?

A similar argument can be made against other parts of the “That’s so ghetto...” segments of the book. Unorthodox baby names, particular attire associated with a “ghetto mentality,” and the preoccupation with the acquisition of material possessions are all considered “ghetto” by Daniels, but again, these can all be considered merely mundane attributes of a race or ethnicity. Anthropologically speaking, there are no positive or negative attributes when it comes to the culture of a group of people. It is only their particular way of living.               

The chapter of Ghettonation, “Livin’ Large,” gives a further explanation of “ghetto.” Daniels says that “At its heart... ghetto is thinking short-term instead of long-term. Today is the most important because tomorrow doesn’t matter.” She offers two personal anecdotes to support this statement. The first is that she saw a billboard depicting the rapper 50 Cent, and displayed was a quote by him that said “Where I am from there is no Plan B. So take advantage of today because tomorrow is not promised.” This quote does a lot to explain what Daniels means by “thinking short-term.” She is saying that the ghetto sometimes offers little hope of advancing, little hope of a future, and so the emphasis in the lives of those that live in the ghetto can be of on the present. Also, Daniels has the experiences of another, 50 Cent, who grew up in the ghettos of New York, to help substantiate her claim.

The second anecdote, however, is not as convincing. Daniels once became acquainted with a teenager, Sanjay, whose parents emigrated from India to the United States. Despite the fact that he lived in a predominantly black neighborhood and spoke like his peers in the community, Sanjay dressed quite differently in that he did not wear expensive brand clothing. He was also astounded by the fact that the author had cable on her television. This showed that Sanjay, though from the same community as his peers, grew up with a different mindset, one that expected him to live within his means.

For Daniels, this anecdote may be satisfactory for proving her point, but it is not hard to see that it is lacking. It does not support the “ghettoization” of America because though this mindset that Sanjay possesses is different from that of typical “ghetto” behavior, it is also different from the behavior of American culture at large. This comes not from a recent “ghettoization” but from the concept of the American Dream. The American Dream has always been a material one, and there is an element of austerity that is prevalent Indian society. The Western concept of credit is not as widespread in that region of the world, and therefore, living within one’s means is quite common. However, in the U.S., Americans have had a history of credit, of buying without being able to pay for it. It is a part of Americana, and it existed decades before the development of “ghetto” culture.

At many times in the book, it appears that some of the information was merely filler. It seems that instead of positing material that would have contributed to a better understanding of the work, Daniels instead offers unnecessary information that did little to support her position. Aside from the superfluous anecdotes, another case of her redundancy is the sixth chapter of the book, “Nigga What, Nigga Who.” In this chapter, Daniels creates a conversation out of the lyrics of popular rap songs. What she is trying to accomplish from such a creation is not clear. What can be assumed is that Daniels is attempting to creatively show the negative elements of rap music and how it promotes “ghetto” behavior, but this could have been more successful if she would have written a traditional chapter and related actual instances of violence and misogyny to the lyrics of songs.

Also, right before the last chapter, “Do You Speak?”, Daniels allows an entire page for the reader to include their own observations of “ghetto” behavior. Though this too may seem like a creative endeavor to promote reader involvement with the text, this appeared to be filler as well. Indeed, it is admirable that Daniels attempts to get the reader thinking about the information in the text, but the page would have been put to better use if it contained material to support her argument. With regard to Daniels’ frequent use of anecdotes, the conversation that made up all of Chapter 6, and the blank page before Chapter 9, Ghettonation would have been a better read if these aspects of the book was altered by the editor.

In conclusion, though Cora Daniels offers an interesting look into the phenomenon of “ghetto” life and culture, some of her conclusions on the subject are erroneous. Her belief that the nation is acquiring a “ghetto” mentality is hard to adopt, and it surely doesn’t warrant a fear of such a behavior becoming mainstream. Also, despite Daniels’ journalist background, she may have benefitted from a better editorial process. However, though there are indeed flaws in Ghettonation, Daniels generates interesting questions that must be asked and addressed by not just the African-American community, but the entire nation.