“Moral Poverty”: Evaluating Moral Frameworks within the Ghetto

Abstract

Situated in African American Studies, this thesis draws from moral/political philosophy, anthropology, and film studies. I aim to begin addressing the following questions: firstly, how are residents of ghettos responding to and evaluating the moral decisions of those within their own communities? How are these same residents morally evaluating those outside of their communities? Who are the ‘neutral’ decision-makers that ghetto residents are being compared to by means of their moral standing? Moving forward, I will be intervening directly in conversations on moral frameworks observed within the ghetto. I will begin by first offering up my own definition of the ghetto, acknowledging the contradictions and tensions within my attempt. I will then engage the work of one of the most prominent philosophers within this subfield, Dr. Tommie Shelby, and his book Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform. As will be explored, Shelby’s work is partially interested in questions of justice, responsibility, and culpability within a “philosophy of the oppressed.” I will be critiquing Shelby’s limited engagement of moral frameworks within the ghetto while attempting to expand the theory behind his vision. I will do so by exploring alternative moral frameworks to be applied to moral agents in the hood, including situationist ethics, moral injuries, and moral rationalism. Lastly, I will analyze a set of Black-American gangsta’ films –Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society – to consider how both the ghetto and moral frameworks within the ghetto are grappled with and depicted onscreen.