Letter to the Editor

Dear ONYX/Sisters,

February 27, 1983

Despite the protestations of cer- tain black women with the class privi- lege that cushions them against certain racist oppressions, (see Bea Morris's letter/February Plexus, Coming Up) most Black and Third World women are constant- ly made aware of the racist nature of much of "women's capitalism." Indeed in this respect it has differed only by sex from the man's brand.

Women's businesses that operate with- out examination of issues around racism and power expose this festering ugliness daily in our community. A visit to many of these places, such as Ollie's (women's bar in Oakland), the Brick Hut (women's restaurant in Berkeley), and Amelia's in San Francisco will reveal always white women in positions of authority. They are handling money, deejaying, supervis- ing and earning higher wages while women of color are earning lesser wages in sub- ordinate positions such as waitresses and bouncers. It is hard, NO, impossible to believe this is mere coincidence-

A recent incident at Amelia's illus- trates the end result of this situation. This bar employs two white women as dee- jays on weekends; why there isn't at least one woman of color, one night a week in a city like S.F. and with Amel- ia's clientele, is a whole separate ques- tion. After I had paid my two dollar's admission charge and sat through such cur- rent dance music as "Bad Girls" etc., I went to the D.J. booth and attempted to make a request. Before I could get a word out, I was grabbed from behind by an older white woman who said she was first --ignoring this rudeness, I let her go ahead. When she was done, I asked the D. J., Cindy Batanideas, if she took re- quests. Without looking at me or even listening to me, she said, "I'm not tak- ing any more requests. I then asked for future reference, "When do you take re- quests?" Ignoring me, she repeated sev- eral more times, "I'm not taking any re- quests. After I repeated my second

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question a few more times, she answer- ed, "I take requests when I want to.

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Her attitude was hostile and totally disrespectful to me as a Black woman and a paying customer. I then asked her name (politely), she said it was on the board downstairs. When I pointed out there were two names listed, she said something to the effect, "Well if you knew what day it was, you'd know my name." When I ques- tioned her bad attitude (in a public ser- vice job!) she told me I had a problem.

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Well, sisters, we do have a problem. Our problem is not the racism and neuro- sis of white women, though--that is their sickness. I for one refuse to carry around anymore of their shit. The prob- lem for me, for us, is--how can we justi- fy lining the pockets of these women with our hard-earned dollars? Are we so far gone in 1983 that we have to pay to be treated as "less than?" I don't think so.

Let's recognize our economic power. Two dollars cover and five dollars for drinks might not seem like much, but mul- tiplied it is once again feeding our op- pressors. We are funding our own spiri- tual destruction when we support racist women's businesses--and it doesn't matter if the perpetrator is the owner or an em- ployee; responsibility rests with all equally. We are beginning to create our own spaces, ONYX, the Black Lesbian Art- ists Support Group, etc.)--let's continue to build together and leave these types of "women's businesses" alone. Their choice is change or die--ours is to change --and live. DEATH TO RACISM!

In Struggle, Storme Webber Oakland, CA

We at ONYX (BLN) were compelled to print this letter. And we also felt it necessary to "check it out. ONYX is a vehicle for communication. We are pro- viding a place to share our experiences and voice our concerns. The following is an account of what happened when I went to investigate this incident.

On Friday evening, March 11, I went to Amelia's to check out Storme's accu- sation of racism on the part of Amelia's Saturday night deejay. I talked with one employee, who wanted to remain anonymous, and to one patron, a black woman named v.

When I told the employee why I was there, to check out a particular incident, she asked me which incident because there had been two "bad situations" in the past couple of weeks. The employee told me that that particular D. J. Storme complain- ed about did have "trouble around people. of color." She also told me that she, herself, had some conflicts with the D.J., Cindy. I told her I intended to talk to the D.J. in attempts to get her side of the story. We continued to talk and after awhile, the employee told me the D. J. had been there in Amelia's, but she didn't tell me because she thought the D.J. would give me trouble.

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