Ghettoes

After both World Wars, blacks from the Southern United States migrated north in large numbers. Most were only able to find low-paying, unskilled labor positions which only provided enough money to live in crowded, inner-city slums known as ghettoes. These urban neighborhoods, like the one where Ornita lives in the story, were characterized by their dilapidated buildings and high crime rates. The ghettoes were segregated by race. In "Black Is My Favorite Color," Nat, a white man, owns a business in the ghetto but does not live there, where people are often so poor that extended families live together in one cramped residence - as is the case with Ornita, who lives with her brother's family. Instead, Nat has an apartment by himself in a nicer section of the city, where he even pays a black cleaning woman to come in and take care of his place...