"Ghetto lit," also known as "Street -lit", "Gangsta lit" and "Hip-hop lit," is a literary genre that is defined by the culture and the environment of inner city African Americans. The mood for ghetto-lit is usually raw, gritty and the main focus is on the African American underworld. This genre tends to sensationalize gangbangers, whores, drug dealers and hustlers. In addition, it tends to exploit the African American female's body and portrays the African American male as a criminal only interested in making money by any means necessary. Of special note, the genre is labeled in some mainstream bookstores and accepted in certain circles as African American Literature. Although, the "ghetto lit" genre has gotten "a new audience excited about books" (Tyre 1), the genre should not be labeled as African American Literature.

By broad definition, the ghetto-lit genre can fit into the category of African America Literature since it includes books that are written by Americans of African American descent. In addition, some individuals may argue that literature should present the truth about life and people, so this "ghetto lit" should be accepted as African American Literature. However, the majority of these poorly written and poorly edited stories are based on fiction and "do not reflect reality in most of Black America" (Williams). Therefore, labeling ghetto-lit African American Literature is not fair to the accomplished authors of the past and future who take writing very seriously. It takes away from those quality writers who have worked and still work hard to master their craft.

The ghetto-lit genre has made authors like Vickie Stringer who wrote Let That Be The Reason, Nikki Turner who wrote A Hustler Wife, and Terri Woods who wrote True To The Game very successful. Both Stringer and Woods spent several years in prison. Upon Stringer and Woods' release from prison they wrote, self-published and distributed their books to the public. Of special note, a positive outcome from the ghetto-lit genre was the creation of Stringer’s Triple Crown Publications. "Stringer's publishing company is named for the crew that she hung with during her drug days" (Young 1). Another example of this literary genre is "Push" a book by Sapphire of which the movie "Precious" is based. No matter what a person thinks about the genre, the creation of a black-owned publishing company and the success of the movie "Precious" are significant and notable accomplishments.

Next, the ghetto-lit genre had questionable beginnings. Some people thought that the genre was a passing fad. That passing fad has emerged into something that is quite popular among young African American women. "Hip-hop fiction is doing for 15- to 25- year old African Americans what 'Harry Potter' did for kids" (Tyre 1). In addition, the genre has "mainstream publishers saying hip-hop fiction is just the kind of hot new genre they've been looking for" (Tyre 2). Publishers do not see black or white, nor do they care about quality; they are only interested in profit. Publishers could care less "how current writers are going to explain themselves to the next generation of writers and readers why they have so little to read of value" (Chiles 2). At any rate, "long established publishers like Simon & Schuster, St. Martin's Press and Atria Book have jumped on the bandwagon" (Williams 1) with this ghetto-lit genre and will continue to publish these books as long as the market is strong.

Interestingly, a lot of prominent authors are very angry about the emergence of the ghetto-lit genre. Their argument is the poor quality writing, the poor editing, the exploitation of African American female bodies, and the glamorization of the black underworld. Terry McMillan was so outraged by "mainstream publishers publishing these books that she wrote a letter to Simon & Schuster’s editor, Karen Hunter blasting them for promoting so-called ghetto-lit" (Grigsby-Bates  1). Some individuals may think that people are taking the genre too seriously. They argue that most readers know that the genre is fiction and do not take it seriously. In most cases this genre is fiction, but it has the ability to shape the views of young impressionable people.

Then, some individuals have argued that this genre has caused individuals to read who have never read before. This is a controversial issue since some people feel that some reading is better than no reading at all. However, others argue, "the readers ingest poison when metaphor and imagery are replaced with sex, violence and expletives" (Young 1). The constant viewing and reading of certain behavior may encourage or in some cases cause impressionable people to act out the behavior. This may be a far­ fetched analogy, but the constant viewing of any behavior good or bad can cause and individual to act out the behavior. In some cases, the individual may begin to view the behavior as normal and start to identify with it.

Moreover, one of the most disturbing issues associated with this literary genre is the implication of "blacks love for sex" (Ulen 1). The ghetto-lit genre implies that blacks, unlike any other race, "crave sex and can't get enough" (Ulen 1). To a rational person, this seems ridiculous, but when images are viewed and read constantly, the behavior can begin to be accepted as normal. In other words, people begin to believe that what they view and read as the truth or the way things really are. It can be compared to how blacks were constantly told during slavery that they were shiftless and lazy. Literature was published which depicted blacks sitting around on Sunday doing nothing. Perception became reality and most people, including blacks, began to think that blacks were lazy people. Even though, any rational person should have known that if you work all week from sun-up to sun-down, resting on a Sunday afternoon should be expected and even encouraged.

In closing, the ghetto-lit genre will always be controversial; there are always aspects that can be debated. There will always be individuals who feel that this genre should not be taken so seriously since it is fiction in most cases. There will always be those individuals who feel that this genre is fine since it has encouraged people who never read before to read. Then, there are people who feel that this genre hinders growth of the African American community and should not be labeled as African American Literature. Any book in this literary genre should be categorized based on the type of book (i.e. fiction, autobiography or semi-autobiographical), but to label all of it African American literature is an insult to the quality African American authors who "aspired to the noble profession of writers as a child" (Chiles 2).