Al Roker Says a Racist Cab Driver Picked Up a White Guy Instead of Him
In a series of tweets on Saturday, Al Roker shared an experience he had just had with an apparently racist cab driver, against whom the broadcast weatherman filed a complaint for declining to pick him up because of the color of his skin.
“Filed a complaint today after getting passed up again by a NYC Yellow cab. Cabbie picked up a white guy a block away,” Roker tweeted. “Wonder why Uber wins?”
“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,” he wrote.
He continued: “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.’”
In a statement to the New York Daily News, Taxi and Limousine Commission chair Meera Joshi said: “Service refusal goes to the core of the taxi industry’s social contract with the riding public and it will not be tolerated.”
“We’re grateful that Mr. Roker took the time to file a complaint, and I can assure him that we will investigate this thoroughly and take every appropriate action.”
Anyway, congratulations to the sharing economy for solving racism. (Maybe.)
Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.