The Making of a Ghetto



The Making of a Ghetto

Gilbert Osofsky's “The Making of a Ghetto” dwells into how the migration of the African-Americans to Harlem and their subsequent settlement was driven with a desire to find a better standard of living where they could live in better houses. However, this fascinating and historical book then converges on how this same quest led to the decline of the black community as the family structure shattered marked with a growing crime rate in the community. What the African Americans had hoped to attain was lost with time, and the Harlem came out to be a land without hope for the black community.

The book appears to be a well researched historical document that employs economic forces that play a role in the creation of ghetto in the locality of Harlem. These economic forces are created with the collapse of the market that renders the vast properties held by the whites useless as it leaves them without tenant. The black community fully capitalizes on this opportunity to make a movement towards this area as they are delighted with the prospectus of living in well built and luxurious houses. However, the situation does not remain a bright one for them for a very long period of time, as the African American community is soon transformed from being a well off community to a black slum within the short period of forty years.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part entitled “The Negro and the City” focuses on one of the earliest neighborhoods in Manhattan situated far south of Harlem, which is occupied by the black community. The emerging scenario in these old neighborhoods as a result of the massive migration to these areas has been described. The early twentieth century witnessed a sharp migration by African-Americans to the northern cities. This had promulgated in social pressure being ignited inside the city on account of the racial differences. It is exactly this focus on the pressure that arose in these neighborhoods due to the arrival of the African-Americans, that employs the major portion of part one. The author describes how the black Americans were excluded from parts of the city on account of racism. This had an adverse affect on the economic state of the black community. However, the black community significantly moved in 1904 to take advantage of the real estate bust in 1904. This initial part portrays patterns that are familiar to the surroundings of a modern ghetto or a neighborhood dominated by the minority which are the African Americans in this case. The segregation that the black community had to endure on account of racism, along with a host number of other prejudices that they faced are outlined. The wave of hostility towards the black Americans resulted in their community being under-employed that had a major impact on their economic backwardness. The chances to progress in other aspects of life were bleak too. The black community had access to inferior education ...