Senator Obama pulled a Danny Glover during the Democratic
candidates' recent YouTube debate on CNN, and no one had the
intestinal fortitude to challenge his off-the-cuff remark. When
asked if he was authentically black enough, the Democratic
presidential candidate answered, "You know, when I'm
catching a cab in Manhattan, in the past, I think I've given my
credentials."
In November 1999, actor Danny Glover complained that six yellow
cabs had passed by him and his daughter on 166th Street and
Seventh Avenue. He held a press conference detailing his
experience, and within days, then-state Senator David Paterson
and the Reverend Al Sharpton were threatening a class action suit
against the Taxi and Limousine Commission. Mayor Giuliani
toughened the Operation Refusal program, which used undercover
black and Hispanic agents to root out racial prejudice. Repeat
offender taxicab drivers could have their taxi licenses revoked
or their cabs confiscated.
What I would like to have heard from the host of the CNN debate,
Anderson Cooper, was a follow-up question to Mr. Obama such as:
"Senator, what would you do to address this situation? If
you're going to interject racial prejudice into the issue, how do
you explain the fact that the majority of taxicab drivers are
immigrants from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the
Caribbean?"
But that question wasn't asked because, just as in 1999, the
reality of crime against taxicab drivers was overlooked. Isolated
instances of racism may very well be behind the failure to pick
up blacks, but more likely it is the fear of being the victim of
a crime that prompts this action. Far too many taxi drivers have
been beaten, robbed, and killed by their passengers; police
officials confirm that young black men are disproportionately
represented as the perpetrators of this type of crime. It is this
fact that has made drivers of all ethnicities wary of any
potential passengers of color, but politicians are too afraid to
touch on this point.
In 1999, the notoriety of Mr. Glover's case brought out the
testimony of cab drivers disturbed by the mayor's sting
operation. In an urban policy paper by a Syracuse University
professor, John Zinger, I read about Paul Frietz, a black native
of Haiti who recalled being robbed and assaulted by two young
black male passengers in 1997.
"Now," Mr. Frietz said, "I simply don't pick up
teenagers. You're supposed to stop for everybody, but do you
really think cabdrivers are going to put our lives on the line?
That is nonsense, and you can be sure 99% of the drivers
agree."
Fast-forward to 2007, and nothing much has changed. In May,
Balwinder Singh became the eighth New York City cabbie to be
robbed at gunpoint by the same gunman, described as a muscular
black man in his 30s, within a two-week period. Though drivers
have the suspect's description, they are forbidden to refuse to
pick up customers based on race.
My foster nephew, Juan, is a black Hispanic who drives a cab at
night and admits that he will not pick up any black person
wearing a do-rag. "It's ridiculous," he told me.
"You cannot refuse anybody, but I'd rather pay a fine than
risk my life."
Once again, a serious problem has been superseded by a social
agenda, and nothing is accomplished. Blacks will only be able to
get a cab routinely in Manhattan when crime against drivers by
blacks is reduced. No amount of sensitivity training will allay
the fears of drivers until that happens. That Mr. Obama resorted
to a crowd-pleasing rhetoric rather than telling the questioner,
"Do you have a real question?" is disappointing at the
very least. His supercilious remark and the press's inability to
flesh out the issue gives credibility to Newt Gingrich's
criticism of this demeaning primary process, which the former
speaker of the House calls an "audition" for the
presidency.
The Republican candidates are scheduled to participate in their
own YouTube debate in September, but only two have agreed to
appear. Mitt Romney said, "I think the presidency ought to
be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a
snowman." He is absolutely right, but ever since Bill
Clinton deigned to answer the "boxers or briefs?"
inquiry at an MTV forum, we've descended into a netherworld of
declasse, sophomoric politics.
It's a dangerous world that requires solid leadership, not
glibness before a television audience. I don't blame Fred
Thompson at all for not wanting to be subjected to such a circus
this early in the race. That being said, I sincerely doubt that
Mr. Obama has ever been turned down by a Manhattan taxicab
driver, and I suspect the taxicab drivers who passed Mr. Glover
by were not racists. Maybe they were just discriminating movie
critics.