Seattle Press on Line - Corporate Discrimination in Seattle

Viewpoint

Corporate Discrimination in Seattle

Feb 28, 2002 -- When a national corporation charges lower prices in more affluent communities it is practicing blatant discrimination. A major practitioner of the art is the gasoline industry. And Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) provides a clear illustration.

The most expensive place to buy gas in Seattle is the Central District: the station at 23rd and Union sells its gas for 14 cents more per gallon than the north seattle ARCO stations. Every time struggling inner city families fill their gas tanks, they spend at least $2 more than North Seattle residents. That adds up to over $100 per year.

The problem is not only confined to the city of Seattle. If you drive to Mount Vernon in Skagit County, you pay only 97 cents a gallon for the same gas that costs $1.17 in Seattle's Central District--a whopping 20 percent higher!

The Seattle Central District is not the only area facing discrimination. Delridge is a lower income area of West Seattle. You guessed it: 10 cents a gallon more for the same ARCO gasoline.

ARCO is making $100 more annually from each and every inner city regular customer. That results in huge profits, paid for by those who can least afford the expense. Due to Seattle's poor public transit system, people are forced to have a car. Then ARCO charges the highest prices to those same people who are struggling economically. Shame on them.

Owners and managers of ARCO stations tell me that it is common practice for ARCO to wholesale its gasoline for 10 to 15 cents more a gallon to stations in the inner city and South Seattle. They, in turn, pass this higher cost onto their customers.

Corporations have a "God Given" right to charge whatever the consumer will pay. But do they have the right to charge higher prices in lower income neighborhoods within the same city? NO. And because Seattle's largest communities of color are in South and Central Seattle, the practice smacks of both racial and economic discrimination.

If a national corporation wants to do business in Seattle, we welcome them. We only ask that they sell their product for the same price at all of their Seattle outlets. Is that too much to ask?

It is time for the City of Seattle's office of Civil Rights to investigate. It is time for our new City Attorney to determine if any discrimination laws are being violated. It is time for the City Council to legislate the end of corporate economic discrimination.

Curt Firestone is a Seattle community activist. He ran for City Council in 1999 and 2001, and is also a former officer of the Washington State Rainbow Coalition, the Green Party, the Democratic Party and the national Independent Progressive Politics Network.

Reader Comments

Discuss this article in the forums!


Lion Kimbro	Mar 09, 2002	Seattle, WA	Programmer
I don't understand, why isn't it okay for things to be different prices for different people? Why do things have to be the same price for everyone? Somebody will have to explain this to me. I don't think that we all come by money as easily and with as much effort. Some people make money near effortlessly, and I think it is okay to charge them more than someone who makes discressionary money only with great struggle and effort.


DyMisha Rivera	Nov 25, 2003	Atlanta, GA	Student
I think it is definately WRONG to charge poor people higher prices. Why would corporations charge them more, when they barely have enought to survive? One would think that the rich people would be the ones that are charged higher prices. Its all a strategy to keep the poor people poor in America. This Country will never end racism and discrimination and it sucks!