Key Passage
The passage about the prostitutes that goes from page 236-237 shows a severe hierarchy between race and gender in Detroit and throughout the country. The prostitutes work for the black men who are paying customers, but then they also must sleep with the white police men for free. The black men are also under the police men because of the very apparent racism of this time. The white policemen as well as the black men use the women for their bodies, showing that women are of the lowest social status. When Cal recalls, "At the curb the girls recognize the cops because they have to do them for free" (237), this really displays the hierarchy because the women do not flee when the cops come, they recognize them as loyal customers that use them for free sex. Normally, one would imagine that prostitutes run from the police, as their job is illegal, but the fact that the men use them for free sex so the women don't feel the need to run, shows how corrupt the police force was at the time. Also the fact that the police go after the men shows how arresting one for their race was more of a priority than arresting a woman selling her body illegally. The social order in Detroit shows how primal the country was at this time and displays the ignorance of many white men to black men. The women were willing to sleep with either race, but the white men only arrested the black men because of the color of their skin. The policemen had the opportunity to arrest both the black men and the prostitutes but the free sex is so important to them that they only arrest the men. This also shows how important sex is to men while the women are numb to it. As stated in the passage, "...high enough by 5 a.m. to be numb to the rawness between their legs and the residues of men no amount of perfume can get rid of" (236), sex is not as important to the women than it is to the men because the women would rather numb the feeling. The sex is so significant to the men that they are willing to put their jobs at risk to continue having free sex.
