Racism is still alive and well. On Saturday (Nov. 21), popular weatherman Al Rocker took to his personal Twitter account to open up about an incident that not only left him angry, but his son confused. The NBC's Today weather anchor filed a discrimination complaint claiming a New York City cab driver intentionally didn't pick him up because he's black.
Speaking candidly with more than 421,000 of his Twitter followers, Roker revealed he filed a complaint after a cab allegedly passed him by on purpose to pick up a white customer just one block away. This wasn't a first time occurrence for him. He then made a comparison to the highly popular international transportation service, Uber, detailing why they're becoming more and more successful.
"This happens to folks of color every day," Roker wrote on Twitter. "And while most cabbies do their job, there are those ignorant, racist ones who hurt the others...What really hurts, my 13 yr. old boy was with me and asked why the cabbie passed us. I said, 'Nick, ignorant people make dumb choices.'"
Filed a complaint today after getting passed up again by a NYC Yellow cab. Cabbie picked up a white guy a block away. Wonder why Uber wins?
— Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015
This happens to folks of color every day. And while most cabbies do their job, there are those ignorant, racist ones who hurt the others — Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015
According to NYC.gov, potential customers and passengers are allowed to file a complaint if a driver refuses a pickup request. It's against the law for any on-duty taxi driver to discriminate against passengers based on "race, disability or destination" in New York City.
Taxi and Limousine Commission chair, Meera Joshi, confirmed his complaint, according to the New York Daily News. If the incident holds any validity, Joshi explained the cab driver's actions will not be tolerated and plan to take appropriate action after the case has been thoroughly investigated.
What really hurts, my 13 yr. old boy was with me and asked why the cabbie passed us. I said, "Nick, ignorant people make dumb choices"
— Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015
The 61-year-old, who recently finished a record-breaking 50-state forecast marathon called the "Rokerthon," did not mention where the incident took place or what time it occurred. Despite his negative experience, Roker still believes there are still a lot of cab drivers who execute their jobs very well.
"Looking forward to a hearing and dealing with this," Roker tweeted. "I will keep you posted."
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