Urban...by definition

I am starting to have a really big problem with the word urban. It started early this summer. I really had not paid attention to the word before, but lately...

Here is the definition of urban, as explained in dictionary.com:

adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or designating a city or town.
2. living in a city.
3. characteristic of or accustomed to cities; citified: He is an urban type.

Now, if you are around my age and happened to be a movie buff, you have heard the word urban used in movies to describe people who live in a city. Usually someone that for whatever reason has been thrown into a county setting. Laughs ensue at their bumbling around the farm, the credits roll. All is well.


Urban has now taken on a different meaning:

adjective

1. Black folk, particularly Black folk who are of a low economic income.

I think what really started making me angry and thinking more about this was hearing some of the teachers (and reading some of their Facebook pages) where they kept referencing my school as an 'urban' school. Or an inner city school. Now don't get me wrong. We are located in the zip code that has my city's highest levels of crimes and murders. I admit it is a rough spot to be in. So, OK, inner city, I might let you have that (but not really).

Urban, however, means that something is not rural. There are no farms or cows or miscellaneous pastures. Urban means city life.

However, urban is starting to mean when there is a high level of Black people. Sometimes when I hear it, I think that it is being used as the politically correct way to say the N word ( I will talk about why I hate folk using that term later). I will give you an example of why I don't like this word. Yes, I said all that other stuff to say this:

I was talking to a teacher that I have talked about before. I am not saying names to protect the innocent, but we seems to be bumping heads a lot here. The subject came up about the use of the word urban. Now, knowing where my school is I tread really lightly on this subject. To give background, not far from my school, maybe a 3 minute drive away is a high school that probably one of the best college prep schools in the area. White folk drive there kids from far across town to attend this high school. They have a high graduation rate and it is pretty hard to get in. It is located in this same area code that is the murder capital of Jacksonville.

Me: Would you consider Stanton an urban school?

OT: No. Not at all.

Me: Well, why?

OT: Well, the type of kids who attend.

Me: Wow...so urban has to do with the people, not the place.

(insert lost look here)

I know this poor woman did not want to say "Well, the Negroes are here, and there they have a mix of the good suburban kids. So it balances out."

If a school is urban it is urban by definition of where it is located. Cows and Chickens (not urban)...big buildings and mass transit (urban). But if you think really hard, you will see that this word is slowly being turned to mean something else. Pay attention.


Still love my (urban) job!