What is the difference between a ghetto and a slum?
Learn English – the difference between a “ghetto” and a “slum”
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Best Answer
A slum is characterized by its run-down status, while a ghetto is characterized by the people who live there. Both usually mean some degree of poverty, being overcrowded, and having high crime rates.
Historically, a ghetto would be a place to put groups such as immigrants, Jews or black people, who weren't allowed to live anywhere else. Nowadays the reasons are mostly economical and cultural; people can't afford to live wherever they like, and choose to live among others with similar background.
A ghetto doesn't have to be particularly poor, some Chinatowns for example can be called ghettos even though they are not really slums. Sometimes, "slum ghetto" is used to clarify both the ethnic grouping and the poverty of an area.