Racist ‘Ghetto Tracker’ App Helps The Rich Avoid The Poor, Creator Responds to Backlash [Details]

Rucuss staffSeptember 5, 2013

There is a new app that helps people identify ghetto areas that threaten rich people.

Yes, you read that correctly. The new app titled Ghetto Tracker functions by allowing locals to rate the safety of different parts of a given area. It’s not based on factual data like frequency of crimes committed, but rather on user personal opinions, speculation and racist stereotypes.

The original launch of the page featured a white family of four smiling alongside the app’s promise to show users “which parts of town are safe and which ones are ghetto or unsafe.”

But Ghetto Tracker’s service doesn’t seem to work correctly. In a test run done by The Week, Manhattan’s very trendy Greenwich Village was touted as ghetto. Additionally, Brooklyn’s very affluent Park Slope area was also deemed as unsafe.

As news spread about Ghetto Tracker’s launch,  it faced so much criticism that it has relaunched with new name “Good Part of Town.” In addition to the name change, all mention of the word “ghetto” has been removed from the site. The site now features an ethnically diverse family on its homepage.

But before the relaunch and name change, the creators behind it showed just how racist they are on its Facebook page. Ghetto Tracker had plenty of negative photos of Africian-Americans on its official page. Check out a few below.

While the CEO of the Ghetto Tracker / Good Part of Town has yet to identify him or herself, they have since written a lengthy letter explaining their position to Gawker. Read an excerpt of it below.

As you may have noticed, we’ve changed the name of the website because it was detracting from the serious purpose the site was meant to serve, which is to help people who are unfamiliar with a particular area to stay safe. 

I am the creator of the site and I haven’t worked on anything like this in the past. I’d rather not have my name published since some people have given borderline threatening responses to the site. I am 30 something and based in Tallahassee, Florida.

This was originally seriously developed as a travel tool and the name “Ghetto Tracker” was meant to be something that people would remember. Well, it worked, but unfortunately, it appears to have brought a lot of negative baggage along with it…

The PR move may not do much to alter the public’s reception of the app, which critics are slamming as a racist, classist app for helping the rich to avoid the poor. Do you believe the creator that the app wasn’t meant to be racist?

Photos via Facebook and Ghetto Tracker

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