Encounter cont'd

At this point I disagreed with the way she had described her manner of approach- ing my friend. She accused me of "run- ning off at the mouth" during the incid- ent. One of the women asked her, "But why did you call the police?" The bouncer said I had not treated her in a "respectful" way. Another woman ques- tioned her "What do you mean--not treat- ing you in a respectful way?" The ques- tion was asked of the bouncer "Do you mean she wasn't docile enough?" One person told her that she had jeopardized our futures and our lives by calling the O.P.D. The bouncer denied that that could possibly be true. During the course of our conversation with the bouncer as we attempted to talk with her, she got more defensive and tried to av- oid answering our questions. She deter- iorated to the point of saying "You're trying to make a race thing out of this because I have blond hair and blue eyes." Nothing was going to be gained from any- more discussion, and certainly no apol- When ogy was forthcoming, so we left.

we walked out onto the street, a police car pulled up and shined its spotlight on our group. At this point, we went our separate ways.

As a result of this incident, the Women's East Bay Building Bingo games have been permanently cancelled at Ollie's. WEBB has issued a statement condemning what happened that night and expressing their full support of all women of colour. The WEBB statement has been submitted to Plexus and Coming Up

Anaylsis

It must be understood that the bouncer and bartender, whoever they might be, represent the management of Ollie's and what that management stands for. other words, how they want people to be treated.

In

In this account, I made an attempt to give a detailed outline of what hap- pened that night, because this same type of harassment has happened many times be- fore to women of colour at Ollie's, and it has never been documented.

In the gay community, we are often too reticent to call an incident that is clearly racist exactly that. We are making no bones about it here and now! The bouncer who felt she was jus- tified in demeaning black women was ra- cist.

The bartender who had two years se- niority and did nothing to stop the bouncer's irrational behavior in calling the police was racist.

The management of the bar who did not deem the situation important enough to come and mediate was racist. And fi- nally, the other clientele of the bar who were not concerned about the harass- ment of six black women in their midst were racist.

C

1982 Marlene Bonner

4

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FAREWELL

We at the BLN bid a fond farewell to Vivienne Walker-Crawford, BLN founder, editor and guiding light.

Vivienne's publishing and editorial acumen was invaluable during BLN's in- ception and infancy. Her presence gen- erated confidence and enthusiasm in those hectic early days. Not only will we miss her talents and varied expertise, BLN will miss her generosity in sharing these gifts. We wish her good luck in all her future endeavors.