Ghetto, tourism

The word “ghetto” first appeared in the sixteenth century referring to an area where Jewish merchants were constrained to live in Venice. As they often dominated commercial activities, an area was designated to diminish their influence on the affairs of the state (Myers and Rowe 1997). During the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, especially in the United States, rapid urbanization and shortages in housing contributed to the formation of ethnic inner-city districts. For example, as minority residents (African Americans, Italians, and Chinese) increased in cities like New York, Chicago, and Boston, the white population relocated to the suburbs. These segregated pockets became known as “ghettos.”

Ghetto tourism is a voyeuristic pastime capitalizing on ethnic, cultural, and lifestyledifferences. Popular US neighborhoods for these expeditions included Chinatown, Harlem, and the Lowest East Side tenements. They are frequented by “white” middle-class Americans who come...