Metropolitan Ghettoes and Ethnic Concentrations: Volume 1
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University of Wollongong Research Online Centre for Multicultural Studies Working Papers Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities 1990 Metropolitan ghettoes and ethnic concentrations: volume 1 James Jupp Australian National University Andrea McRobbie Australian National University Barry York Australian National University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/cmsworkpapers Recommended Citation Jupp, James; McRobbie, Andrea; and York, Barry, Metropolitan ghettoes and ethnic concentrations: volume 1, Centre for Multicultural Studies, University of Wollongong, Working Paper 1, 1990, 111. https://ro.uow.edu.au/cmsworkpapers/1 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Metropolitan ghettoes and ethnic concentrations: volume 1 Abstract The origin of the word 'ghetto', it is universally agreed, is in the Jewish quarter of Venice in 1516. It was a common practice in medieval times to segregate Jews in a particular area of cities, often outside the city walls or, as in the case of Venice, on the periphery. In London, Jews were excluded from the City and took up residence in the Aldgate area on the outskirts. This remained a strongly Jewish area until the bombing of the Second World War. Similar situations were found throughout Europe. These ghettoes were not necessarily poor or disadvantaged areas. Some, as in Amsterdam, were quite prosperous. In modem times Jews began to disperse more widely, but the persistence of Jewish institutions such as synagogues in the former ghetto areas meant that they retained their Jewish character, often for centuries. Ghetto areas grew rapidly in eastern Europe in the nineteenth century as laws were passed in Tsarist Russia confining Jews ot a large area of the empire (the Jewish Pale) and then driving them from their rural settlements (the shtetls) into cities where they were confined within particular areas. Thus when the mass Jewish emigration to America started in the 1880s most migrants already had the experience of living in exclusively Jewish villages or urban areas of Poland and Russia. Other European Jews, while not so confined, had also experienced life in concentrated areas of cities, although this was much less common than in the Russian or Ottoman empires. When east European Jews settled in America they tended to live in concentrations such as the Lower East Side or the Bronx in New York. Despite much dispersal to outer suburbs in America there are still Jewish concentrations in many major cities. This working paper is available at Research Online: https://ro.uow.edu.au/cmsworkpapers/1 Working Papers on Multiculturalism ■ TH MULTIC DEPARTMEN HE CENTRE FOR M ulticultural s t u d ie s Paper No. 1 Metropolitan Ghettoes and Ethnic Concentrations Volume 1 JUPP / McROBBIE / YORK Working Papers on Multiculturalism No. 1 Metropolitan Ghettoes and Ethnic Concentrations Volume 1 James Jupp Andrea McRobbie Barry York Centre for Immigration and Multicultural Studies Australian National University, Canberra Published for The Office of Multicultural Affairs, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, by The Centre for Multicultural Studies, University of Wollongong, Australia © 1990 Office of Multicultural Affairs Published by The Centre for Multicultural Studies, University of Wollongong P.O. Box 1144 Wollongong, 2500 Australia for The Office of Multicultural Affairs, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Canberra, 2600 Australia Co-ordination: Bill Cope and Adriana Hassapis (CMS); Bill Mullane and Margaret Pender (OMA) Distribution enquiries: Office of Multicultural Affairs The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commonwealth Government, the Office of Multicultural Affairs or the Centre for Multicultural Studies, University of Wollongong. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: Jupp, James, 1932- Metropolitan ghctlocs and ethnic concentrations. Bibliography. ISBN 0 642 15756 1. 1. Minorities - Australia. 2. Cities and towns - Australia. I. McRobbie, Andrea. II. York, Barry. III. Australia. Office of Multicultural Affairs. IV. University of Wollongong. Centre for Multicultural Studies. V. Title. (Scries : Working papers on multiculturalism; no. 1). 307.14160994 SERIES ISSN 1035-8129 CONTENTS VOLUME ONE Report on Metropolitan Ghettoes and Ethnic Concentrations The Concept of the Ghetto in an International Context The Concept of the Ghetto in the Australian Context Australian Experience of Settlement before 1940 Settlement Patterns of Post-War Immigrants Measures of Concentration Characteristics of NESB Concentrations in Sydney and Melbourne 'Asian' Concentrations Focal Points and Core Areas Conclusions Policy Options p.83 Summary p.86 Methodology p.88 Bibliography p.89 Terminology and Definitions p.UO VOLUME TWO Rank Order of Sydney and Melbourne LGAs p.U7 Sydney Melbourne Survey of Selected Commercial Centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Wollongong p.121 Sydney • Norton Street, Leichhardt • King Street, Newtown • Cabramatta Shopping Centre • Melbourne • Acland Street, St Kilda • Footscray Shopping Centre • Lygon Street* Carlton • • Oakleigh Shopping Centre • Victoria Street, Richmond* Springvale Road, Springvale* • Sydney Road, Coburg and Brunswick • Brisbane • Fortitude Valley • West End (including Hill End) • Goodna, Darra, Oxlcy and Inala • Wollongong • Wentworth Street, Port Kembla • Analysis of Ethnic Newspapers by Location of Advertisers p.164 Maps p.169 Sydney LGAs • LOTEs • Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders • Arabic Speakers • Chinese Speakers • • English Born • Greek Speakers • Italian Speakers • Jews • Muslims • Indian and Sri Lankan Born • • Vietnamese Speakers • Yugoslav Born • Melbourne • LGAs • LOTEs • Arabic Speakers • Chinese Speakers* English Born • Greek Speakers • • Italian Speakers • Jews • Muslims • Indian and Sri Lankan Born • Vietnamese Speakers • • Yugoslav Bom • Brisbane LGAs • LOTEs • Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders • Chinese Speakers* Greek Speakers • • Italian Speakers • Vietnamese Speakers • Perth • LGAs • LOTEs • Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders • Chinese Speakers • English Born • • Italian Speakers • Indian and Sri Lankan Born • Yugoslav Born * A d elaid e • LGAs • LOTEs • Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders • Chinese Speakers • English Born • Greek Speakers • Italian Speakers • Vietnamese Speakers • Yugoslav Born • REPORT ON METROPOLITAN GHETTOES AND ETHNIC CONCENTRATIONS The Concept of the Ghetto in an International Context The origin of the word 'ghetto', it is universally agreed, is in the Jewish quarter of Venice in 1516. It was a common practice in medieval times to segregate Jews in a particular area of cities, often outside the city walls or, as in the case of Venice, on the periphery. In London, Jews were excluded from the City and took up residence in the Aldgate area on the outskirts. This remained a strongly Jewish area until the bombing of the Second World War. Similar situations were found throughout Europe. These ghettoes were not necessarily poor or disadvantaged areas. Some, as in Amsterdam, were quite prosperous. In modem times Jews began to disperse more widely, but the persistence of Jewish institutions such as synagogues in the former ghetto areas meant that they retained their Jewish character, often for centuries. Ghetto areas grew rapidly in eastern Europe in the nineteenth century as laws were passed in Tsarist Russia confining Jews to a large area of the empire (the Jewish Pale) and then driving them from their rural settlements (the shtetls) into cities where they were confined within particular areas. Thus when the mass Jewish emigration to America started in the 1880s most migrants already had the experience of living in exclusively Jewish villages or urban areas of Poland and Russia. Other European Jews, while not so confined, had also experienced life in concentrated areas of cities, although this was much less common than in the Russian or Ottoman empires. When east European Jews settled in America they tended to live in concentrations such as the Lower East Side or the Bronx in New York. Despite much dispersal to outer suburbs in America there are still Jewish concentrations in many major cities. The term 'ghetto', then, became transferred from its European origins to North America in the nineteenth century. It normally referred to an area of a city which was wholly or largely Jewish. In contrast to Russia, however, there was no legal obligation on Jews to live in such areas and they eventually began to disperse as they became more prosperous. Some attempts were made to inhibit this movement through the practice of restrictive covenants, which prevented property from being rented or sold to Jews. This practice, which is now illegal, was extended to Blacks and to other ethnic groups. As other major immigrant groups arrived in America they tended to concentrate in areas to which the term 'ghetto' was also applied. This concentration, as later in Australia, was largely caused by the practice of ’chain migration', whereby original settlers (almost always single males) paid for their relatives to emigrate and then became responsible for settling them, in the absence of any public services. This gave rise to the many Chinatowns, Little Italies, Little Warsaws and so on which characterised American and Canadian cities between the 1880s and the 1940s. The reasons for