413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Other respondents explained that their racial preferences were based around assumptions about the ease
of employee management. A respondent distinguished between white and black employees by stating, “A
black ho will make you pimp, a white ho will let you pimp.” He explained, “The key to that phrase is black
girls talk shit, will stab your ass, fight. Even if they’re cool with everything, when the police bust them
they’ll turn on you” (D18). Another black respondent shared a similar perspective on employee
management, stating that the actions of his employees reflected on his own merits as a pimp: “I don’t deal
with black girls, unless she is a superstar. The way the woman acts shows how good of a pimp you are. My
preference is not black—most were white, Hispanic, and Asian” (C9).
A woman’s ability to blend into different environments without attracting attention from law enforcement
was also considered by some pimps. One pimp explained,
One thing about a white girl that a black girl cannot do—you can stand a white girl on any
corner around the world and she can sell [sex] from here to New England to France … a
white girl can sell [sex]. Still a white world. That’s why my partner likes white girls. What
they make from a white girl takes two for me. (D5)
Sharing a similar belief, an African American respondent offered the following explanation of his
preference for white or Asian employees:
Caucasian and Asian women would blend in anywhere. They can hang around Manhattan
and no one is going to be like, “What are you doing around here” When it comes to a
black girl, [that can] kind of [be] one of those red flags to anyone. [Then people ask,]
“What are you doing around here talking to this person or that person You are up to no
good.” (E3)
Other pimps expressed a preference to work with black employees, often citing concerns over law
enforcement detection. One African American pimp explained he could more easily evade law
enforcement if he employed only black women:
I’m what they call a duck master—I deal with only black girls. If I am going through a
certain kind of state and the Cadillac has only blacks, police just let me through. White
girls—doesn’t look right. If one of them come back as a known prostitute, they say they
already know what you’re doing, you’re a pimp…My partners love white girls because it’s
more profitable. (D5)
Pimps also made observations about how employee race could impact likelihood of arrest and
incarceration. According to some respondents, the race of employees also had an impact on charges and
the length of sentence imposed. One interviewee reported that the length of his prison sentence was
impacted by the race of his employees: “They were only white females that I was charged with because
that’s all they care about. If these females weren’t white I wouldn’t be facing all this time right now” (C8).
Another respondent also believed that prosecutors charged pimps differently based on the race of their
employees:
Respondent: In [my city] there is a district attorney and her daughter was prostituting
and she found that out. When that happened, I don’t know what she did or what she
said—but it turned into two different charges. If the girl is white, it’s called slavery.
Interviewer: Modern day slavery
Respondent: Yeah. They added new types of rules to it. On the Internet it’s considered
human trafficking because it’s across state lines. In the beginning, none of that was there.
In most cases, it would just be pimping and pandering.
Interviewer: If girl is not white, it’s pimping and pandering
Respondent: Right.
Interviewer: In your case it was not a white girl
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