Arlesia McGowan Period 4- Ghetto Tracker site offends, dies and returns

Friday, September 6, 2013

Article by: Heather Kelly

                     


            Yeah.....This one is most definitely new. So guys, Lo and behold, we have, the Ghetto Tracker....ridiculous stuff right? Raised from the dead once again, the Ghetto Site Tracker was initially a website to get locals to share what areas they think are "unsafe". Nevertheless, with our "nitpicking" society, we always have to delve deeper right? And most certainly we say why? The owner of the site, till this day stated unknown, has made a grave mistake....naming the site ghetto for starters; this has opened the doorway for countless criticism. Not only this, but the owner includes a picture of a white family, now being called a racist and a classicist. However, the owner claims that the sight is strictly based on the opinions and impressions of regular everyday people; no harm given. Tying in with other racial incidents, the site started to get negative press on September 3rd. The author, renamed the site "The Good Part of Town", taking down the white family photo, and posted one of an interracial family, only to make it worse. Unforgiving as always, critics continued to bash the site, now addressing the deeper issues of race and class. A little late, the author figured that he would take it down, also mentioning, "This site is gone, it's not worth any trouble"...Right. But, little do we know Thursday September 5, the site returned, making the bold statement of " We're revamping it (the site), to make it even better". In conclusion, the author stands firm on his ground, "Debunking all Media Myths", he states on his page. People just dont get it do they?
                   Sometimes, there are just some words you just shouldn't use for certain things and I think people with the knowledge of common sense can apply this; but then there are those that just don't understand the concept. The authors FIRST mistake was calling the site "ghetto". Who wouldn't think that that terminology wouldn't be offensive? The author should have sat down , got in touch with himself and should have pondered that word. There is nothing positive about the word ghetto and therefore no one should use it for anything unless they are just playing around with friends. According to the dictionary, the term ghetto is the part of the city where minorities live; being so, this is another reason why he shouldn't of used it. It is a pretty selective word. I think the initial problem people have is the name, not the site. If the site was a different name, there would be no problem of course. It would just be like any other travel rating website. The Ghetto is a place where the Jews during the holocaust lived for a certain amount of time. It is not an adjective; but in our society we have turned it into one. Also, being that the site is called ghetto with a white family's picture on it makes it even worse. People make assumptions, sometimes really critical ones. That's my spiel on it; hopefully in the future we won't have to come across this again but unfortunately we will have to deal with the ignorance of taking that chance one way or the other.

                                                                       <3, Arlesia :)

Click on it! Here is the Link! http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/06/tech/web/ghetto-tracker-controversy/index.html