Al Roker: Yellow Cab Passes Him, Picks Up White Man

Detailing what many Black people know as one of the oldest racial profiling experiences, famed weatherman Al Roker took to Twitter Saturday night to announce that he filed a complaint after a NYC Yellow cab allegedly passed him to pick up a White man.

“Wonder why Uber wins,” Roker wrote, mentioning the ride-share company that has seen success through the use of an app that allows users to requests cars straight to their doors.

“This happens to folks of color every day.” Roker added. Roker’s 13-year-old son, who was with him when the incident occurred, asked his father why the cab passed them to pick up the White man.

That, Roker wrote, hurt him more than the snub.

According to the NY Daily Mail, Taxi and Limousine Commission chair Meera Joshi confirmed the complaint had indeed been filed.

“Service refusal goes to the core of the taxi industry’s social contract with the riding public and it will not be tolerated,” she said.

“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.”

Roker’s experience is not unique — cabs passing Black men and women is a decades-long problem that has both been addressed through the lens of racial profiling and comedic fodder.

SOURCE: Twitter, NY Daily News | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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