For this blogger, 2010 California Primary Election Night will be remembered for an emotional, stirring speech by Kamala Harris, now the California Democratic Representative in the race for the Attorney General seat now held by Jerry Brown, and an angry, irrational, and racist cab driver who really should be off the streets of San Francisco, or at least not allowed to drive a cab.
It started at 9:15 PM PDT as I walked up the escalator at The BART Embarcadero Station to Market Street on the side in front of the San Francisco Federal Building. The initial plan was to walk over to the cab stand on Drumm Street in front of the Hyatt Regency. Then I saw a white cab drive slowly by, so I yelled "Hey taxi" and on cue, the cab slowed more and turned from the second lane to the first lane and to me. I clapped my hands in delight, opened the door, and got into the cab.
That was the end of my joy.
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| Angry Luxor Taxi Driver |
So I told the cab driver that was me, not him yelling for a cab. The cab driver said I was wrong, and turned the corner. He said, it was the other guy and kept looking back to see if he was there. No one was chasing his cab.
I was a bit annoyed and said "Frankly, I think you wanted to pick up a white guy and was upset that you got a black guy." At that he stopped the cab and ordered me out, as the video shows. When he stopped the cab, I took out my video camera.
I use cabs a lot of late and the experience has been weird and disheartening. Many cab drivers tell me they are most afraid of "East Oakland" patrons, and when I quiz them, I find they mean black men. It's one reason I carry a video camera.
Cab drivers in San Francisco and Oakland hold a great prejudice against black men, especially African cab drivers. White drivers are generally the best to deal with, followed by African American cab drivers. The driver of Luxor Cab #1046 from last night was Nigerian, I later learned.
At any rate, the Nigerian cab driver came over and opened the door and tried to pull me out of the cab. I told him he was going to get arrested. I repeated that over and over again. I also said "You don't know who I am, do you?" He said he did not care.
He then said I'm calling the police, which I welcomed as I wanted them to see what he was doing. As he was dialing the phone I got out of the cab to get a video of him. Then he came over and pushed around me, shut the door, then got in the cab and drove off. At that point, I had all the evidence I needed for an assault charge.
The cab driver was lucky he got me and not some gang banger, I suppose. But regardless, and humor aside, how many other people does he treat that way and gets away with it? There's no mental screening or testing for cab drivers in San Francisco or Oakland, so you don't know who you're dealing with. The last time this happened to me, the cabbie, also African, told me to get out of the car, but did not touch me. See:
By contrast, the Nigerian cab driver did touch me and for no good reason. In the time he took to be violent or try to be, as really I was strong enough to hold my camera and hold my place in the car, he could have taken me to Delancey Street. Instead, he sped off. But I got his information:L Luxor Cab #1046 CA License number 8L46060.
I hope the San Francisco Taxi Commission takes him off the road. He told Luxor that I "took a cab that was meant for someone else" but that's a lie as reported by the driver himself who said on the video that he was upset that I simply mentioned that he favored a white passenger over a black one.
I'll bet he didn't tell Luxor he put his hands on me.
But the truth is, not only did he, the so-called white passenger was never there. But the Nigerian cab driver was just being psychotic. But that should be enough to get a person off the streets of San Francisco.
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