Who says there is no such thing as racial profiling? A preppy-attired young black man hailed a New York City cab in the wee hours of Saturday morning. As the Wall Street worker attempted to step in to the vehicle, the driver asked where he was going and when the response was "Brooklyn," the cabbie hightailed it off dragging the young man along the streets of SoHo.
(pictured) is a young, black, urban professional. He is the first member of his family to obtain a college degree and is proud of it. He works a white collar job in the financial district on Wall Street. He was dressed conservatively and lives in a nice area in Brooklyn. Horton is an accomplished 23-year-old and is baffled as to why a cab driver would size him up as a threat or menace to society just because he asked to be taken to another borough in New York City other than Manhattan.
"All they see is a black man, a potential hoodlum. It's very disheartening," he told the
Daily News.
The
DePauw University graduate was out at a club partying with friends and decided to head home at around 3 a.m. After trying to get a cab to stop for him, 45 minutes later one did, and unfortunately for Horton, it was the wrong one. When the driver asked him "where to?" and Horton replied, the cabbie sped off without ever checking to see if his passenger had stepped away from the car.
Horton's jacket apparently got caught in the cab's door before he had a chance to step in to the vehicle. "I was getting in when he hit the gas and my jacket got caught in the door," he said. "I was screaming at him to stop, but he would not stop. I struggled and struggled until I finally pulled free."
Horton was dragged for one block.
During the harrowing process, the young man lost his wallet, glasses and ruined his jeans. Thankfully, he was not seriously hurt, scraping only his knee and bruising his forehead.
Horton, who works for a financial services company, says that he did not call police because he was not seriously injured. He was also unable to get the license plate of the runaway cab.
"This is racial profiling and it's sickening. It's ridiculous trying to find a cab that will take you where you want to go if you're a black man."
A
Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) admitted that they were familiar with Horton's story but offered no comment. Under the TLC guidelines, all New York City passengers are covered by the
"Taxicab Rider Bill of Rights,
" which require cabs to take passengers everywhere within New York City that they request, in addition to Westchester, Nassau Counties and Newark, New Jersey airport.
When Horton was asked to describe the hack, he said, "I believe he may have been Middle Eastern."
Just a couple of weeks ago, Daniel Shaneyfelt, 51, who is white, hailed a N.Y.C. cab, got inside and told the driver to take him to Brooklyn. There were no problems. When his black, dreadlock-sporting boyfriend, who had just completed a series of cancer treatments at Mount Sinai hospital, joined him moments later, the driver then refused to take them.
Shaneyfelt accused the driver of racial profiling and won a $2,000 settlement against him. Meanwhile the cab driver, Mohamed Ebrahim, also Middle Eastern, denied ever picking up the passengers yet agreed to pay the settlement because he "didn't want too much trouble."
Trying to catch a cab while black in New York City has been an ongoing problem for quite some time, and I have firsthand experience. Have you experienced taxi cab racism?
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Comments: (71)
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By: ADMR on 10/26/2010 12:16PM
The Most HATEd & FEARed On The Face Of The Earth - The Black Man - WOW!
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By: mswll4 on 10/26/2010 2:22PM
The Cab Driver thought he and his HOMEBOYS were going to ROB OR CARJACK him when they get to BROOKLYN.
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By: dvine on 10/27/2010 11:22AM
Sad.. they are stereotyping him.. 1 black criminal doesn't represent all blacks.. not all blacks are criminals.. it's sad.. hell we're from this country - not the middle easterners and they have the nerve to be racial profiling when picking up passengers..
damn shame.. i hope they find him and yank his license.
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By: Mr. Thorn on 11/10/2010 3:12PM
And in the warped think of the black man in America, he's FEARED for no reason whatsoever...
REALLY?
http://americans4justice.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/black-racism-white-victims/
I fear the black male sucker punch most of all...No defense against it
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By: Lance on 11/09/2010 12:26PM
Around my neiborhood these asians people that worked at a Shell station wouldn't even let a black man heat something up in their microwave. The man was trying to get a hot meal and they charged him for the cup and he paid. Later, they called the cops when he walked in just to use the microwave. They also sent over employees from Africa to try to push the man around and intimidate him. Then they took the microwave off the floor like they just want the "privilige" of using the store's microwave for themselves. I stopped shopping at Shell and I don't get gas there anymore either. Nothing, nada, if they can't let a black man use their precious microwave to get a hot meal.
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By: Jean Lovell on 10/26/2010 6:24PM
? Does it matter which neighborhood the passenger live in? Is their policy not to accept passengers who request certain areas? If so, why pick someone up just to harras them?
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By: betty on 10/26/2010 5:34PM
white men are the biggest pile of sh$$ i have ever heard you would blame a black man if the damn sky was falling
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By: Hector Garcia on 10/26/2010 10:19PM
Most if not all cab drivers in New York city are either of Middle Eastern or Latino decent. They are the ones who hate picking up black people.
But can you blame them. Who robs them the wide-majority of times = Black folks.
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By: sam on 10/28/2010 7:55PM
Wow, seems like racial profiling?
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By: Janee on 10/27/2010 10:44PM
Hell, at least they wouldn't be blaming a black woman for it, like black men blame black women for everything. LOL
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