Al Roker: Weatherman Says Taxi Driver in New York Skipped Him to Pick Up White Man

[kpete]

Al Roker: Weatherman Says Taxi Driver in New York Skipped Him to Pick Up White Man

Al Roker slams 'racist' New York yellow cab driver for 'refusing to pick up him and his 13-year-old son because they are black'
Al Roker was taking his son, 13, to the doctor in New York on Saturday
Weatherman claims a yellow cab driver ignored him because he is black
Driver allegedly snubbed him and picked up a white man just a block away
Roker, 61, filed an official complaint and an investigation is now underway

The fuming weatherman took to Twitter, saying the cab driver saw him, drove straight past him and picked up a white man a block away.

He wrote: 'This happens to folks of color every day. And while most cabbies do their job, there are those ignorant, racist ones who hurt the others.

'What really hurts, my 13 yr. old boy was with me and asked why the cabbie passed us. I said, "Nick, ignorant people make dumb choices".

'Hopefully @nyctaxi weeds out the bad apples. Looking forward to a hearing and dealing with this. I will keep you posted.'
Roker, whose Weather Channel show Wake Up With Al was cancelled last month after six years, appears to be having his complaint taken seriously.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3329002/Weatherman-Al-Roker-slams-racist-New-York-yellow-cab-driver-refusing-pick-13-year-old-son-black.html#ixzz3sK2S27dL
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3329002/Weatherman-Al-Roker-slams-racist-New-York-yellow-cab-driver-refusing-pick-13-year-old-son-black.html#ixzz3sK2FFX2m
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[dembotoz]

1. drives me must this is covered by london paper and perhaps a shrug in this country

[FLPanhandle]

2. What I don't understand is I don't think I've had a white taxi driver in NYC in 10 years

If one profession is totally almost run by minorities, it's NYC taxis.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. +1 White cab drivers here are few and exceedingly far between.

I've no doubt that Roker's experience was not as he described.

I'm saying we have to be willing to reexamine certain simplistic .... and outmoded... assumptions about race, ethnicity, class and also the terminology we've used, and often abused, to establish and maintain said assumptions. ( eg. "folks of color" as Mr Roker, puts it, folksily. Who is described by that term, exactly? Korean Americans? NYC cab drivers won't pick-up Koreans? *Really*?)

It's not as simple as "white people bad", anymore. If it ever was.

[KamaAina]

19. I think Archie Bunker was the last one

[Gormy Cuss]

23. Where does it say it was a white driver? n/t

[Smarmie Doofus]

24. It doesn't. It's a silly assumption based on the even more idiotic assumption....

.... now generally accepted on DU .... that only white people people can be racist.

People of color can't be racist because....ummm..... ummmmm ...errrrhhh.....ummmmm .... the definition of racism requires a "disparity of power" and there are NO situations , ever, in the USA where a person of color can wield more power in a relationship or encounter than a white person does.

Or something like that.

Don't ask me. Ask them.

[BlueJazz]

3. Is it possible that the cabbie had a call to the corner where the white guy was at?

Don't know. Never take cabs.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Doesn't The Cab Have It's "Not For Hire" Light On. . .

. . .if they're on the way to a call? That way, someone just standing there knows that person is already on a call.

[BlueJazz]

10. Oh, I didn't know they even have that type of light. Maybe I'm just hoping it was a mistake.

Always a little discouraging to hear this type of scenario.

[iandhr]

17. NYC yellow cabs don't really do calls.

They are street hails.

The have a light on top of their cab. If it is on the are free if it off they have a passenger or passengers inside.

[merrily]

4. Glad he filed a complaint.

[Nye Bevan]

5. Yet another reason why Uber is better than legacy cabs (nt)

[FLPanhandle]

8. I agree. I love Uber. nt.

[KamaAina]

20. Because Uber drivers never, ever refuse to pick up people of color

http://www.laweekly.com/news/uber-driver-leaves-black-customer-standing-at-the-curb-5450743

Some African-Americans have praised Uber and other ride-share services as long-awaited solutions to cab-hailing discrimination. With a ride-share app, nobody knows you're black.

Until they come to pick you up, that is. One Los Angeles area ride-share customer says an UberX driver recently left him waiting at the curb after discovering, through a window, that he is African-American....

It was late and, as he sometimes did, Murdock hailed the ride through his smartphone and then waited at a somewhat desolate curb outside his office in Glendale, he said.

Here's how Murdock describes what happened:
When they came to pick me up, the Uber driver waited until I was three feet from the car, then pulled up and away from me. He pulled half a block away and then called me. I answered the phone and the driver asked if it was me. When I responded yes, the driver (whose name was ironically "Shady&quot rolled down his window and waved at me to confirm that it was me. When I waved back, he rolled up his window and drove off.

[951-Riverside]

9. Seems a bit racist to call the guy a yellow cab driver, wouldn't you say?

Anyway, thank goodness for ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft.

F*ck the taxi cab industry with their filthy cabs, racist attitudes and high fares

.

[GummyBearz]

13. I've been told many times in recent weeks that only white people can be racist in america

So that video must be from somewhere else I guess

[GummyBearz]

11. He should have used Uber

nt

[cwydro]

12. I'll bet that cab driver is not white.

Even in my city, almost all the cab drivers are from the middle east.

[smirkymonkey]

14. I lived in NYC for years. I don't think I ever saw a white

cab driver.

[cwydro]

15. I haven't visited for a very long time.

But even when I was there, I never saw a white cab driver.

People seem to forget that anyone of any color can be racist.

[iandhr]

18. Born and raised New Yorker. I can count on my fingers the times I have had white cab drivers.

[Greybnk48]

16. Maybe he recognized Al Roker and,

race aside, just didn't want to pick up that arrogant asshole. And, BTW, aren't most cabbies in NYC people of color? I call B.S. on Al's story.

[romanic]

21. I never of Al Roker being arrogant.

But even if he was, it's not very nice to bypass someone needing a cab if you're available for picking someone up.

[restorefreedom]

22. i did wonder if his celebrity was a factor

if this was some unknown guy and his kid it would be more believable. but al roker is known and not necessarily universally liked.

not saying it was right but it may not have been racial. i mean, if i drove a cab and saw tom cruise waiting, no way in hell would i stop. he's white, i am white. not racial. i just loathe the guy.