Portland Observer, March 25,1982 Page 3
METROPOLITAN
Street Beat
Our Street Beal question this
week is, " D o you feel that there
should be a citizen board that
watches how the police handles
complaints against the police de
partment?"
Rhonda Fornah, housewife—
"Yes, that way there would be less
unequal treatment of people.”
H erb Lyons, shipyard worker—
“ Sure, why not? I don’t see why it
would be ojbectionable. 1 haven’t
really thought about it.”
Police aatlm at* B.000 participated In laat Thurs
day’* m arch and rally for Jobe and Juatlca, or-
ganlxed by a broad coalition of labor unlona and
com m unity action groupa. The dam onatratlon
waa a algn of the growing unity between organ
ized labor and the raat of the prograaaiva move
ment In the face of Reagan'a attack*
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Yes
Nina Spears, unemployed
the police
because I feel that half of t)
department is crooked."
Reece Blacknall, unemployed—
“ Yes, because when you ask them
something they don’t come up with
the right answers.”
Prostitution: A part-time job
Part III
by Harris Levon Mcrae
Simply because society doesn't
condone an act, that doesn't make
that act prostitution. It is this intan
gible factor that makes it difficult to
decide how you determine a woman
to be a prostitute. Some married
women sell sex to men other than
their husbands. M any times hus
bands not only know about it but
actually encourage it. Those dollars
that the wife brings in may be the
difference between paying the rent
or not. Other women work daytime
jobs and sell sex at night for fun and
excitement.
I talked to several "part-tim e**
prostitutes as well as many street
prostitutes to get today's story.
Monday night I hit the streets to
find out how street prostitutes felt
about "part-time" prostitution. Po
lice cars were swarming on Union
Avenue like bees on an intruder in a
bee hive. All up and down the street
talk about "busts" and "being has
sled" were going on. This clearly
was not a night for a reporter inves
tigating prostitution. Tuesday I
found out why.
"T h ey (the police) busted about
20 girls yesterday for prostitution. I
was in jail about three hours before
they let me go. Every Monday they
bust girls and Tuesdays and Thurs
days are vice nights. On those nights
the cops act like tricks (cus
to m ers)," I was told by a young
woman who sells sex on Union Av
enue and on Interstate.
It seems that the residents o f the
North and Northeast communities
have finally stirred up the police de
partment enough to have them at
tempt to do something about street
prostitution.
"W e started really getting hassled
about a month ago. The word is out
on prostitution. This is how I make
my living and it's getting to be hard
to do that," a woman who has been
a prostitute for a little over a year
told me.
In this age of Reaganomics many
of us will find ourselves doing things
we normally wouldn’t do to make or
save a few dollars. It has to do with
that urge of all living things—survi
val. M ore city people are tending
gardens than ever before, others are
buying more of their clothing from
" t h r i f t " and "second-hand"
stores, and others are "moonlight
in g "—working more than one job.
For some that "other jo b " is the
selling of their bodies for sexual in
tercourse.
" I'm out here during the days and
I go to school at night. People who
put down prostitution don't realize
that it keeps some people a liv e ,"
one woman told me.
"A ctu ally prostitution comes in
several ways. You have to be a pros
titute to get and keep some of those
so-called 'straight* jobs," another
woman added.
" I do a little stealing, 1 lay down
for money, I do a little o f every
thing. I have to do it. I don’t like it,
but you know I have to liv e ," one
woman said.
As you can see there is a lot of
ambiguity about what people con
sider prostitution. Some people feel
that there is little difference between
many wives and prostitutes except
for the fact that "prostitutes" want
their material reward immediately
and "w ive s" get their money in a
more long-term plan. This is a valid
opinion. I know more than one
woman who has sex with her hus
band because they "have to— it goes
along with the furniture."
Some women voice their views:
" I have thought of cutting down
the time I am out here. I would like
to do some other things with my
life. I f a girl really had her act to
gether she could make some good
money out here part-time.”
" M y kids d o n ’ t go w ithout.
Whatever I have to do to keep my
home together— it's worth it. Some
of these guys spend hundreds of dol
lars on liquor so I might as well get
the money.”
" I f men don’t mind giving away
money for sex, I don’t have any
problem with taking it. This is life
and you need money."
One mother of three who has sex
with anyone who has the money told
me, "L o o k , I ’ m on my own and I
have to pay the rent."
There is no doubt that economic
exploitation is an important factor
in the oppression o f women. Since
men usually seek out women for sex
in exchange for money, and it is the
women who agree and submit, any
view of prostitution has to come to
terms with the role and place of
women in our society. In an already
air-tight job market more women
will turn to part-time prostitution in
order to earn a living.
" It's amazing the things that you
think you have to do to survive. One
day I started crying in the middle of
laying with this dude— 1 knew I
couldn’t live my life like that any
more," I was told by a woman who
now babysits and cleans houses to
pay her bills.
It is quite evident that society tol
erates part-time prostitution just as
it does street prostitution. Our soci
ety must face the issue o f alterna
tive employment for women who
are forced to turn to prostitution to
support themselves.
Making the rich richer
(Continued f(om page I col. 6)
a gimmick that does not alter the
control o f the companies. It
strengthens the relationship between
imperialism and (he Third W orld
nations that is the cause of poverty
and underdevelopment.
Induatrlal redeployment
The Caribbean is a source o f
cheap labor that is geographically
very close to the U.S. This makes it
convenient to develop a process
called redeployment— the transfer
to underdeveloped nations o f cer
tain industries which are no longer
profitable or desirable in the U.S.
because of excess capital resulting
from the U .S . economic crisis, a
falling profit rate because o f high
wage costs, or damage to the envir
onment.
This industrial redeployment, al
ready seen in the Caribbean and
Central America, involves setting up
subsidiaries o f U .S . parent com
panies. These companies are not
based on the needs of the countries
where they are based but on the
strategy and needs o f the parent
company. The result is an industry
whose existence is for the quest o f
profits via the exploitation of under
paid workers.
Reagan's dream seems to be a
Caribbean dotted with export bases
for U.S. transnationals exporting to
the U.S. merchandise produced by
exploited Third World people.
Tax incentive*
There are also tax incentives to
encourage investment of U .S. pri
vate capital. U .S . direct invest
ments in 1980 were estimated to be
SI 1,946 million, not counting huge
investments in financial centers such
as the Bahamas.
For example: Tate and Lyle owns
the m ajo rity o f the sugar planta
tions in Trinidad and Tobago, and
its subsidiary, Caroni L td ., owns
most of the sugar cane land in Ja
maica and Belize. Elders and United
Fruit (now United Brands) control
banana production and exports in
Jamaica. Oeest Industries own most
of the plantations in Barbados, Do
minica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent.
U.S. investment has not brought
riches to the area. For every dollar
invested in 1979-1980, U .S. com
panies removed $2.24 in profits. In
1980 they received a 23 per cent re
turn on their investments.
Even so, Reagan placed restrictions
on receiving private investment. He
asked for absolute guarantees:
prom pt, adequate and effective
compensation in case of nationaliza
tion; unrestrained opportunity to re
move profits and other assets.
Financial aid
Reagan made it clear that "much
of the aid will be concentrated in the
private sector." He said he will ask
Congress for $330 million for fiscal
1982.
The Economic Commission for
Latin America o f the U nited N a
tions has estimated that just to meet
the economic needs of Central Am
erica would cost $20 billion. Reagan
has offered $350 million for Central
America and the Caribbean. The
national debt of the nations includ
ed in Reagan’s proposal was $15 bil
lion in 1981. The interest owed to
U.S. and European banks in 1979
was $867 million. What Reagan has
offered is less than half the interest
charge for one year. And this $350
will go mainly to an Economic Sup
port and that will be used to finance
imports from the private sector. Not
less than $100 million will go to El
Salvador to help prop up a falling
government.
What Reagan is recommending is
spending a small sum to finance im
ports from the private sector and
obtaining a favorable short-term
balance of payments, rather than
providing long-term concessionary
credits under favorable conditions
to be used by countries on develop
ment programs.
In other words, her Caribbean
economic strategy is designed to fur
ther U.S. interests, not the underde
veloped nations o f the Caribbean
and Central America.
M aria Al-Meshan. unemployed—
“ Yes, in some ways it would help."
Charles Watson, security guard—
"Y e a h 1 do. I have a lot o f com
plaints. Somebody needs to watch
them and know what’s going on.”
by Harria Lavon McRae and Richard Brown
Joe L y ski, retired— "They have
smart people in the police depart
ment and they should solve their
problems on their own. Why bring!
outsiders in."
Imports
At Wholesale Prices
A fascinating new and easy way to purchase
unusual hand-carved furniture, and over 2,000 other
variety items, has been made available by a local
small firm, which feels there is a need, in these hard
times, for people to be able to buy at affordable
prices. This company is located at 1930 N.E.
Columbia Blvd., Portland, and is in the process of
converting an old farmhouse into a place convenient
to buyers at prices the public loves: wholesale!
Solar Co./Import Division is anxious to have you
stop be and get acquainted. There are full color
catalogs available, and many samples on display in
the show room. Prompt and courteous treatment is
the motto of Solar Co. Their phone number is 283-
4003. An additional cash discount is yours when you
mention you read this article in the Portland
Observer.