The Value of Being “Ghetto Fab”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

I watched a video the other day about a woman named Jazz Ison Sinkfield and couldn't help but laugh. For some reason, Jazz thought it would be a good idea to start growing her fingernails for almost a quarter of a century without ever cutting them. Now, the woman is stuck with a set of peculiar monstrosities hanging from both of her hands that keep her from typing on a computer, tying her own shoes and perhaps even wiping her own behind. I'm not necessarily one to judge another human being so harshly, but I found it most interesting that Jazz truly believes that other women are jealous of her fingernails.

Jazz is not the only person in our community who has gathered a set of habits that some might consider to be a "ghetto fab." I am not sure where all of these habits come from, and when I see them, I try to process things without becoming a hater. But when I put it all together, I can't help but quote someone whom I disagree with regularly by the name of Bill Cosby, who once made this simple comment: "Come on people."

When one rolls through "the hood," they will usually see a few interesting things. First, we see the pants sagging down below the butt, with a brother who has to use one hand to constantly keep his pants from falling to the ground. You might then see someone else with tattoos up and down both arms, and maybe some additional tattoos on the neck. Actually face tattoos have become all the rage among rappers who don't seem to remember that these things are difficult to remove.

 

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