ABSTRACT
The ultimate determinant of what can or cannot be done is not some unique ghetto culture but the place assigned to ghetto dwellers in the structure of American society. It is probably clear that the anthropological view of ghetto culture is quite compatible with an understanding of the constraining influences of the American social structure on the ghetto, influences which tend to prevent ghetto dwellers from living according to mainstream culture. Ghetto dwellers themselves certainly use “nigger” as a term of abuse, but they can also give it an affectionate connotation. Ghetto dwellers seem to see life in their community simultaneously through two pairs of eyes; those of the participant and those of the outsider. In accepting the mainstream morality of most white Americans, they are prone to pass judgment on the “undesirable” behavior of other ghetto dwellers and thus commit an infraction against the solidarity of the ghetto community.
