Ghettos in the United States are typically urban neighborhoods perceived as being high in crime and poverty. The origins of these areas are specific to the United States and its laws, which created ghettos through both legislation and private efforts to segregate America for political, economic, social, and ideological reasons: de jure[1] and de facto segregation. De facto segregation continues today in ways such as residential segregation and school segregation because of contemporary behavior and the historical legacy of de jure segregation.
American ghettos therefore, are communities and neighborhoods where government has not only concentrated a minority group, but established barriers to its exit.[1] “Inner city” is often used to avoid the word ghetto, but typically denotes the same idea. Geographic examples of American ghettos are seen in large urban centers such as New York City, Chicago, and Detroit.
- ^ a b Rothstein, Richard (2018). The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. New York, London: Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, 2018. ©2017. ISBN 9781631494536. OCLC 1032305326.