Is "village" a racist (or classist) term?

I can't stand that word.

Ever notice that there aren't any "villages" in the United States (cept for Greenwich, I know, I know). Or Canada? Or most European countries? By that, I mean that when someone refers to the town- notice I used "town" there- in generic terms, like I just did, they usually don't say "village." As in, "In my village there are two grocery stores on the main drag." Doesn't that sound like odd usage of the term when referring to a location within the United States? Typically, people will say "In my town there are two grocery stores on the main drag," no matter the size of the place.

Further, it seems like only brown people live in "villages." Why is that?

Is it at least classist?

It's a technical term for a specific form of local government, distinct from a 'city'. Wisconsin is full of villages.

:shrug:

They actually call them villages? Like, someone will say, "Well, back in my village, there was this guy who....yadda yadda"?

I mean, don't we call them "towns" in the United States?

"The main difference between a city and a village is that cities are organized and governed according to their charters, which can differ widely among cities, while villages are subject to a uniform statewide Village Law."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_subdivisions_of_New_York_State

For example, just outside the City of Madison, we have the City of Sun Prairie, the Village of Middleton, the Village of McFarland, etc...All of them (including the Cities) are located in the Town of Madison (anything not annexed by another city or village is considered to be under the Town's jurisdiction). These are all smaller than the County, and then the State.

on edit:

Well, colloquially, we would generally say, "Back in my town", instead of 'back in my village'. I suppose in that sense I can see what you are getting at.

how you referred to it when you were talking about it, without using it's name.

Instead of "town," you used "village?"

understand what I'm saying :P, even if you don't agree.

Started thinking I was crazy for a second.

It is a form of government.

Illinois also has townships.

"Village" is only racist if your only frame of reference is National Geographic or cable news networks.

"Village" does imply a pastoral setting (historically), but tons of European and American villages are now called suburbs.

The Village of Glenview is a suburb of Chicago, and everyone there refers to it as a village, not a town. People outside might call it a town, but residents refer to it as "the village"

.

Alright, forget it, then. Maybe I'm just nuts.

What, I'm not sure.

I grew up in the Village of Yellow Springs, OH, and yes, we refer to it as a "village". It's one of the most progressive places I've ever been. Like a small version of Madison or Greenwich Village (oops, there's that word again!)

It's a pattern I've noticed. Nobody in the United States says, "Back in my village....blah blah"...they say "town."

Now, when a similarly-sized settlement is referred to in another country, in particular when there are brown people living in it, it's very, very common to hear the word "village" used. Why don't they say "town" for that, too?

I've heard the word used to describe places from all around the globe, not just where brown people reside; Russia and Australia come to mind off the bat. I think that it's used to imply "small & poor", rather than anything else.

But, no, I don't think that there's any latent or overt racist overtones in the word's usage.

I realized it's actually more in tune with "poor and small," like you said.

it just means small and rural. Since that means houses can have more land, it often means 'rich', in fact. Many rural areas in Britain are saying that only the rich can afford the house prices. They commute to work in the towns and cities.

1 a : a settlement usually larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town b : an incorporated minor municipality

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

town here in the United States as a "village."

"villages" in Los Angeles. I think the term just connotates a smaller town. Doesn't have much to do with the inhabitants. To me it sounds a little quaint, but definatly not racist.

Now, not voting to confirm gonzales, that's racist. But only if you're a democrat. /sarcasm off

Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills Village. I think if you do a little more research you will find plenty of places named "Village." Remember many times when people refer to a village it doesn't need to be an actual town/city etc. When Hillary Clinton wrote "It Takes A Village" she was not refering to any kind of town or city. She was refering to a group of people, friends, neighbors, teachers, school officials, etc. Sometimes people also refer to a village within a village. Any city of size no doubt should have many many "villages." These villages are not offical villages necessarily.

I hope this makes sense.

I know lots of places are named "Village." I'm talking about how the words are used generically, colloquially (when people are not applying the strict definition of "village").

and I know of several villages. They are called villages, and there are village halls, etc.

is "hut" racist?

Municipalites can incorperate as one of three things here, a village, a town, or a city.

be called a town or a borough.

At least thats what it was called. It was printed on all the school buses as well. "Gibsonburg Exempted Village Schools"

Village," but as a general term, as in, "Back in my village...."?

...that's what they called it...actually, there seem to have been alot of villages in upstate New York 20 odd years ago...You may be confused with the Viet Nam era saying of "having to destroy the village to liberate it".

Villages are small. We don't have many any more, because all of our villages became bloated.

Why, we got Elk Grove Village right here in our burbs!


Seriously though -- I hear little European towns described as "villages" all the time. My Serbian co-worker talks about her family's "village", etc.

If there's any subtext or connotation to it, I think it does sometimes imply maybe a more old-fashioned, traditional way of life, agriculture, etc. But I don't see how that's racist.

I grew up in a small town and it sucked, but village is at least a cool word.

Said so right on the sign welcoming us to "Westmont, the Progressive Village" (which is funny, because it was in dupage county, a very red area in suburban Illinois.) This was not a poor area, so the answer is no

everyone that lives here or visits here.

Are they villages by another name?

;-)

of connotations.

Basically, 10 farmers and a bar got together, thought up a name, and bought themselves a sign.

:)

Are you meaning, the only time you ever hear it is on the news regarding a small collection of homes in third world countries that have just gotten blown up, or swept away or something?

And, the contrast, that we don't refer to towns here in the U.S. as villages, when we're using generic terms (I'm not talking about town names or definitions).

I'd say, no, the word itself is not racist. Although it's often used in racist and classist manners. That's probably why there's so much confusion in this thread. I think "thug" is a better example. The word itself isn't racist, but it's used predominately by the media and everybody else almost entirely for black men.

It is neither racist nor classist. Just another term for small town. Like a hamlet. :)

classist...since you do not have a no option does that make me raceless and classless to you? Hey..I like that! That is the FUTURE of the human race..if the Democrats have anything to do with it! :hi:

Why do you make me READ..and have to inculcate into my tiny brain little bits and pieces of information when you can have a YES or NO answer...damn you to hell!

really a bunch of racists? (sorry, couldn't resist) B-)

:)

original post. Sorry if this was lost on you. Just forget it.

as "President?" I spent my teens living in the Village of Greendale, Wisconsin, which was originally developed as a WPA project. Villages are pretty common in Wisconsin.

I'm not sure I get your point. You find them all over Europe.

Villages
http://www.freesearch.co.uk/dictionary/villages
are a group of houses and other buildings, such as a church, a school and some shops, which is smaller than a town, usually in the countryside:
- a fishing village

- a mountain village

- a village shop

- a village green (= an area of grass in the middle of a village)

- Many people come from the outlying/surrounding villages to work in the town.

http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/dict/geo012.htm

There are even variations such as "northern village", "resort village", "summer village", and various First Nations villages (e.g. Nisga'a). More than 600 were recorded in the 2002 Census Subdivisions listing (mostly on the prairies).

Urban areas have "villages" too but they're usually older parts of town (sometimes they used to be independent communities but are now engulfed by the city?) -- like Hess Village in Hamilton or Cook Street Village in Victoria. People still like to use the term because it sounds historic and often those areas are different in terms of culture, architecture, and such.

Growing up in southern Ontario, I would see a sign proclaiming "police village" outside the community of Ancaster. This used to confuse me since none of the people I knew in that town were cops! Apparently this is an administrative term used to grant more powers to a local municipality that didn't meet the population requirement (500 people) to be a "real" village, but wanted to have street lights etc. -- I don't know if it's used outside of Ontario (and even there it's pretty old-fashioned).

http://www.avalancherealestate.com/canada/ontario/caledon/explanatorynotes.html

In Canada, I've seen small villages mostly inhabited by aboriginal people -- and other villages that are almost entirely white.



p.s.: What people were saying earlier about "back in my town" -- most of the rural inhabitants of small settlements I've talked to refer to their community as a town (even if it doesn't meet the population/administrative criteria) -- BUT a surprising number of the city dwellers who live in those heritage districts insist on calling them "villages" ("we've finally bought a place in Cadboro Bay Village, do come by for the housewarming") even if their mail is sent to the "City of Victoria" and their neighbourhood has no separate authority. I attribute this to the New Urbanism (or the old Romanticism?).

I think BGL is making an interesting point about the connotation of certain words in place-names -- I'm a geographer by trade and this is one of the things I study -- but I felt I should point out that the class-relationship goes both ways. The "historic" urban or near-urban villages I mentioned (like Ancaster, Cadboro Bay, etc.) -- they are almost always well-to-do, and living there has a certain "cachet".

"...none of the people I knew in that *town* were cops..."

As opposed to "...none of the people I knew in that village were cops..."

Now, say the same thing about a small place in, say, Zaire....now which sounds right?

Not saying you're a racist...I'm just trying to point out something about word usage in our culture.

http://www.city.hamilton.on.ca/Visiting-Here/Historical-Hamilton/ancaster/default.asp

So we're both right!


p.s. I go by population size rather than by (presumed) level of industrialization when I describe a place, but that's just my geographical training.

Further, it seems as if only purple people live on the "main drag". Why is that?

I mentioned earlier that I did see some classist meaning to "village", but just to clarify -- yes, it can be used to belittle a community (developing-world or rural ... what urban/economic researchers would call "periphery). And I think the formal designation of some northern Canadian aboriginal settlements as "villages" may not be entirely based on population size. (The "Dene Village" that used to exist outside of the town of Churchill, Manitoba may have been called that to emphasize the separation from the "main" community.)

But I also wanted to point out that, especially over the past couple of decades, "village" has picked up a connotation of intimacy, belonging, and historical authenticity. So in some situations people have started using it again to refer to particular neighbourhoods (and even, in some cases, to new subdivisions which never existed as independent hamlets or villages). And yes, there is some ethnic/economic exclusiveness implied when it's used in that context -- call it a longing for local identity, or just plain snobbery, but I've been seeing more of it lately. (Think of Thomas Kinkade's idyllic but improbable "village" scenes.)

American towns are bloated. They also usually have their own charters or laws.

E. Europe has lots of villages. Used to have more; some of the larger cities are growing and incorporating them. The ones that are left are really, really small.

Oregon has a lot of little burgs. (That's the word I've picked up for things that I'd want to call village, but that word seems so quaint.) Maybe because some end in -burg.

In any event, the older word for 'village' (which is, after all, French) was 'wic'. Shows up all over England in place names ending in -wich and -wick. Makes the name "Greenwich Village" a bit redundant.

They're fairly common in Illinois.

:shrug:

Woodstream Village.