White makes
right
Former prisoner
turns his life around
by
H eather H ybarger
P HOTO BY MARTY DAVIS
C
harles White at one time or another
has been a prostitute, a kept hoy, a
business and accounting student, a
jewelry store clerk, a Republican, an
antique store owner and a drug dealer.
How he became the person he is now is a
long and twisting river of events that boil
down to one thing.
“I’m out there showing that people don’t
have to reoffend,” he says. “Good people can
make mistakes, come out and .do something
positive.”
White grew up in a conservative house
hold, and while his parents loved him, he
didn’t feel he could
talk to them. He
soon discovered the
gay scene in Portland
and in 1975 left the
10th grade behind
and joined the ranks
of the street youth.
The formation of
Mildred’s Place was
where he got his first
taste of organizing.
Charles White
The street kids wanted
to have a youth club,
and they networked to raise the money for it.
White has fond memories of the place.
As time passed, he had many adventures
and swirled in a few eddies, not knowing what
to do. He was in St. Louis in 1986 when his
boyfriend died of AIDS.
White was in debt, so he filed for bankrupt
cy. He was 26 years old.
He soon started to put his life back together.
He returned to Salem to he closer to his family,
got involved with another man and secured a
high-paying job.
Soon, White realized his dream of opening
an antique store. Unfortunately, he also did a
lot of drugs.
“1 was making enough money to afford our
lifestyle and the drugs, but 1 just envisioned
myself mnning my store and dipping into the
cash register to buy crank,” he says. “My store
would have failed.”
White’s solution: Why buy drugs when
you can deal? He was 36 when he went to
prison.
He says that the police knew he was deal
ing and that an opportunity arose for two
guys to get plea bargains by implicating him
and testifying in court. “It was so unfair
because I had not done what I was accused of
doing, but I had done a lot of other things,”
he admits.
The judge sentenced White to six years
in the Oregon State Penitentiary. Thanks
to the work of a good lawyer, he got out in
four.
Continued on Page 13