Prostitution does indeed represent a blight upon the city, but perhaps not in the way you described in your Nov. 18 article "Prostitution blights a part of Raleigh's heart."

If in Raleigh, just six blocks from the governor's mansion, a girl feels she has no options in life but to sell her body, what does that say about us? If the system seeks to destroy her rather than save her, is that system not a blight on our city?

If our response to marginalized people is to protect our property values rather than fight for the worth of the individual, does that not show our society is broken? We invest millions downtown, helping wealthy developers grow wealthier while the poorest neighborhoods need more parks and playgrounds.

A city, a nation, a culture are not judged by how they treat their wealthiest citizens; they are judged by how they treat the least of their citizens. The prostitutes, the homeless and the drug addicts are indeed poor, but poorer still are those who would sacrifice them in order to save their home's resale value.

Hugh Hollowell

Raleigh

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.