Radio was playin', Desmond Dekker was singin'

[venta]

A quick question:



[Poll #1344729]

Edit: I don't mean "give me a list of names", I mean "which term would you naturally use in conversation if talking about such a thing".

If you're going to fill in an answer, please do so before reading on.

I would habitually refer to that sort of stereo (ie portable, speaker at either end, tape deck in the middle) as a ghetto-blaster. I seem to remember that that's what everyone was calling them in the 80s when I first started interacting with such things.

Problem is, I've no idea of the origin of the term. Which ghettos were being blasted exactly ? Is it possible that someone somewhere might find it an offensive term ?[*] Is it even in common enough usage now that I could expect someone to be sure what I meant - or am I just hopelessly outdated in my choice of name ?

What other words are there ? Apart from radio-cassette player, of course. I'm not very clear on what exactly a boombox might be - could it be one of those, or is it subtly different ? Can I still call it a ghetto blaster if it's got a CD player in it ? Does the choice of name depend on the kind of music player - could one still blast ghettos with Wagner, for example ?

[*] According to Wikipedia, yes. But it's a particularly shoddily written piece, plus I'm interested in what other people think.


_{That image is just quickly grabbed from google image search, so if you're in The Future, it's probably red-exed by now.}

Comments

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I'd say the problem here is the reversal of an archetype. One's mental conception of a "ghetto" (assuming we believe in the psychological theory of category definition through archetypes) might include groups of people in the streets playing recorded music. This probably only offends if it's wilfully ignorant, and the existence of such groups in "the ghetto" is a part of hip hop tradition / mythology as well being as an outsiders' fancy.

To then refer to any device used to play music in the streets as a "ghetto blaster" stigmatises that activity, by flipping the archetype around to say that when one thinks of street music, one thinks of ghettoes, as opposed to saying that when one thinks of ghettoes one thinks of street music. I think this is probably more likely to be offensive to anyone who does it, regardless of whether the area they live can reasonably be described by the speaker as a "ghetto". Especially so if they feel their love of public music is cultural, and that you are therefore consigning their culture to the ghetto.

The issue is further strained in the US, because there discussion of "ghettoes" is a live political issue associated with race. I've always understood that "ghetto blasters" are not named after the Warsaw ghetto of 1940-1943, but after poor, predominantly black neighbourhoods in US cities.

I say this in full knowledge that I certainly used to call the things ghetto blasters myself. Not sure whether I still would - it actually took me a while to remember the term, so long is it since I had occasion to talk about such portable stereos. The obvious fix is for Apple to change the language by manufacturing an iBlaster, which people with very strong arms will take jogging.

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

I believe there are also Jewish people who find the casual use of the term "ghetto" offensive but I haven't been able to find adequate citation of this.

Also, check out this thread for casual use of the word "ghetto", racial stereotyping, minimisation and racism. Oh and for bonus points a reference to "PC gone mad" on page 2.

And this and more minimising, more PC-gone-mad and more blatant racism.

Irrelevant!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Which reminds me, I heard a joke I rather liked the other day:

Did you know that Suggs is headlining Rock Against Racism ?
It's just Madness gone politically correct.

I started to read the threads you linked to, but I think it would be bad for my blood pressure :( Although that's more a feature of the-way-discussions-happen-on-the-web (in general) than the racism in particular.

Re: Irrelevant!

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Similarly, "mental illness: it's madness gone politically correct".

Re: Irrelevant!

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

That joke would be more charming if Suggs was not a former enthusiastic National Front activist.

Re: Irrelevant!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Good grief, was he really ? I didn't know that.

Re: Irrelevant!

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

He claims to have seen the error of racism and left the NF before Madness became famous, and I'll do him the credit of believing that. (The same is true of Mike Barson of the band.)

But I believe Suggs kept up his friendship with Ian Stuart (they used to be flatmates) right up till the latter's death.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

people who find the casual use of the term "ghetto" offensive

Well, at least both groups are in agreement that neither black Americans nor users of large portable stereos should be characterised as ghetto-dwellers.