Doom Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Toby was on this morning deliberately playing dumb and asking why this was happening. Well der......1,400 cases in Rotherham involving many taxi drivers might point him in the right direction, but he knew that. If people feel more comfortable with white taxi drivers that is their prerogative, it doesn't automatically follow they're some sort of racists. Personally speaking I've never had a problem with Asian taxi drivers, but I can understand why others, especially women and children, might be concerned now. Regards Doom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazybaby Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 As above............. people get scared, I was listening to LBC radio yesterday morning and one guy rang in to say his daughter at uni was asking for a white driver, also on the same programme was an Asian woman who said that she always asked for an Asian driver, it's on listen back if people want to check it out . It looks like it's working both ways. Personally I don't care who it is as long as they are polite and get me from A to B safely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabelle Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 It would never cross my mind to ask for a white taxi driver. I don't care what colour, gender, creed etc the driver is as long as they get me home safely. I read an article about this, and apparently people ask for a 'local' driver, the company should send a local non white driver just to be pedantic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doom Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 A quick story about Asian taxi drivers. Years ago me and my mate used to go to the Centertainment for something to eat after watching the ice hockey. We used to both get a separate taxi from the taxi rank that used to be down there. One week, my mate being a very dozy individual, left his Steelers shirt behind in the taxi, although at the time he didn't know where he'd left it. The following week when I was in my taxi going home I got chatting to the driver and mentioned the hockey. I told him about my mate losing his shirt. The driver then reached under his seat and low and behold produced my mates Steelers shirt.....He'd been driving around Sheffield with it under his seat. Like I've said before, my experiences of Asian taxi drivers have been generally very good. Regards Doom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milquetoast1 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I'm pretty sure that this is still law. It seems clear to me. Anyway. If I was the taxi firm, I'd tell him to walk. There is no doubt that the act of requesting a white driver or asian driver is racial discrimination. It's the very definition of racial discrimination. The 1976 Act you link to goes to great length to describe what racial discrimination is, and requesting a taxi driver to be a particular race is it. But it is still not illegal to request a driver to be a particular race, even if the person doing so is a racist, and the Act doesn't say so. The law as it stands is to protect the end user, customer, buyer, consumer, employee against discrimination on the part of the employer, service provider. The most valid point is that made by cgksheff, that it might be the taxi company itself that is acting illegally. If they agree to meet a customer's request for a driver of a particular race, the taxi company is then illegally favouring drivers of that racial group. If a customer really wants a driver that will allow their dog in the car, they should just ask for a driver that has no problem with dogs, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthenekred Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I'm more concerned about everyone loosing the right to choose, the trend of one group of people trying to impose their views onto everyone is unreasonable. No one can stop you from choosing. How do I stop you choosing White over Black? What you are afraid of is loosing the right to voice your choice, you want impunity from voicing bigotry, hatred and racism. You have it, as I have the right to voice an opinion on your choice of words. Bigots need to be heard, it's not enough to just quietly choose White over Black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SavannahP Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 No one can stop you from choosing. Yes they can. How do I stop you choosing White over Black? You don't What you are afraid of is loosing the right to voice your choice, you want impunity from voicing bigotry, hatred and racism. No I'm not and no I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 A quick story about Asian taxi drivers. Years ago me and my mate used to go to the Centertainment for something to eat after watching the ice hockey. We used to both get a separate taxi from the taxi rank that used to be down there. One week, my mate being a very dozy individual, left his Steelers shirt behind in the taxi, although at the time he didn't know where he'd left it. The following week when I was in my taxi going home I got chatting to the driver and mentioned the hockey. I told him about my mate losing his shirt. The driver then reached under his seat and low and behold produced my mates Steelers shirt.....He'd been driving around Sheffield with it under his seat. Like I've said before, my experiences of Asian taxi drivers have been generally very good. Regards Doom It's because they aren't all rapists and/or dishonest. How do these people who get all hot under collar about Asian drivers get on with takeaway deliveries then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenRivers Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 It makes sense to have compulsory CRB checks for taxi drivers (which UKIP councillor PCC candidate Jack Clarkson is campaigning for). It has been known for licensing committee to grant taxi licenses even to known offenders after pressure from elected councilors because they were mates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliceBB Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) I'm more concerned about everyone loosing the right to choose, the trend of one group of people trying to impose their views onto everyone is unreasonable. That's rather naive. An individual's (or a group's) 'right to choose' is not some kind of inalienable 'given' in every context. You do not, for example, have the right to 'choose' to keep someone as a slave in your house, or 'choose' to drive your car on whichever side of the road you prefer or at whatever speed you like. Individual 'choice' is necessarily limited by its impact on others. Otherwise you end up with a society like pre 1990s South Africa. Is that what you want? If people start saying that they will only have a taxi driver of a certain colour, or gender, or age, something which is is inherently discriminatory and exclusive - it means the ones you are rejecting (for no good reason) miss out on the work and end up as 'second class' citizens. A choice based on racist reasons is morally iniquitous and often illegal. There is no good reason why a black or Asian taxi driver (who has after all, been passed as a good driver and registered as such) should not be able to do the job (ie drive you somewhere) any less effectively than a white driver. It is therefore unreasonable to stipulate you do not want a black or Asian one. It would be reasonable to request a driver who can either speak or read English competently (for the discussion of destination, etc) or even ask for one who spoke your own first language if it is not English. You cannot though demand that the service be provided by someone with your your 'choice' of 'characteristic (be it race, gender, age, etc) as that is something people cannot change about themselves. You can learn another language, but you can't change your gender or your race. Nobody yet has justifed how being driven by a white taxi driver is in any way more satisfactory than being driven by a black driver, other than for reasons based on sheer subjective prejudice, which is not acceptable. Nobody has yet made an objective case for it at all. I can only think of some medical contexts and wet-nursing where it would be acceptable to specify you want a female to see you/feed your child. Other than that, how can such discriminatory 'choices' be justified? Edited October 23, 2014 by aliceBB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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