‘Inherently racist’

Paparazzo

Morlar wrote: »

My experience of African-born taxi drivers would lead me to prefer Irish or Polish or Russian etc over those ones. Call that whatever you want but that is my choice based on my experience & I am not going to have my mind changed on that.

My own bad personal experiences with taxi drivers are about 25 bad with irish, 2 bad with african guys. Suppose I should avoid all Irish taxi drivers then?

Almost the definition of racism. A few black taxi drivers gave you a bad experience, therefore all black taxi drivers are bad. You say irish drivers know their way around better, but you have no problem with other foreign drivers, just the black ones. "Call it whatever you want...", I will, discrimination based on skin colour is plain and simply racism.

And you say you're not going to have your mind changed. So if you're stuck some night and a black driver is the only guy available, either you won't get in based on his skin colour, or you do and he does the simple job of driving you home perfectly (like almost every black driver I've had), but you'll still have the opinion that blacks are inferior at taxi driving. How sad.

micropig

IrishAm wrote: »

No doubt farm boy here, in the most subsided profession in the Irish state, is going to refuse farmers dole, return all CAP funds received and start the practice what he preaches, right? Right?

Yeah, I might if I actually was a farmer.:rolleyes:

Did the farmers do something to you, you seem to have a major grudge against them?

Morlar

Paparazzo wrote: »

.... Suppose I should avoid all Irish taxi drivers then?

Here is a thought, I continue to spend my money based on my preference formed through my experience and you do the same.

opinion guy

pabloh999 wrote: »

How can people who just landed here from outside the EU get garda approval to drive taxi,s?

Evidence for this claim ?

How can the relevant background checks be carried out on a person with no background?

Evidence for this claim ?

I think this is a serious issue. People with student visas or only in OUR country a very short while driving members sometime vulnerable members of the public around in taxis.

Evidence for this claim ?


Unless you have links to back this up it seems you are just making sh1t up to back your viewpoint. You haven't even bothered with anecdotes :rolleyes:
Taxi drivers have licenses plastered on their dash given out by the authority for all to see and check they are legit. If you get into a random car and you dont' see that its not a taxi - its just a randomer.

suicide_circus

Eastern European drivers ftw
Clean High spec German saloons
Drive fast
Dont talk
Dont bull**** around with your change

pabloh999

opinion guy wrote: »

Evidence for this claim ?


Evidence for this claim ?


Evidence for this claim ?


Unless you have links to back this up it seems you are just making sh1t up to back your viewpoint. You haven't even bothered with anecdotes :rolleyes:
Taxi drivers have licenses plastered on their dash given out by the authority for all to see and check they are legit. If you get into a random car and you dont' see that its not a taxi - its just a randomer.

Perhaps you are unaware there is a whole section of society here on student visas. Coming from India Mauritius Africa. These are only the ones i meet. They come here to learn English study business etc and are allowed work part time. Elder care in the case of Mauritius taxi in the case of Africa
Its actually hard to get in here if you have low qualifications.

lividduck

pabloh999 wrote: »

Perhaps you are unaware there is a whole section of society here on student visas. Coming from India Mauritius Africa. These are only the ones i meet. They come here to learn English study business etc and are allowed work part time. Elder care in the case of Mauritius taxi in the case of Africa
Its actually hard to get in here if you have low qualifications.

In other words you have no evidence, you just making wild unsubstansiated claims in the hope of stirring the sh**e!

reprazant

lividduck wrote: »

In other words you have no evidence, you just making wild unsubstansiated claims in the hope of stirring the sh**e!

A Nigerian woman told me as she left her buggy off the bus saying she could be bothered putting it on and the HSE would get her a new one. I was so disgusted by this, I had to look away and in doing so saw 3 lads outside by the canal eating a swan.

Unbelievable scones.

the_syco

Show Time wrote: »

At least by using an Irish cab you can be certain the fare money is staying in Ireland and not going Western Union way out to some other country.

As opposed to Irish taxi man spending all his money in foreign supermarkets up North? Should they have a supermarket receipt printed on their door for you to see? :pac:

=-=

I sit in the passenger seat to ensure that I fit (being over 6 foot) in to the taxi, and black, brown, yellow, white taxi men; they can all talk non-stop.

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Even the most brain dead, borderline retarded, knobheads can manage to drive.

Pity some of them can't even work their f**king SATNAV, never mind know where to go when I tell them!

If the black taxi driver sounds like an inner Dublin scumbag, I'll pick him over a culchie sounding white taxi man; accent says more than skin colour, I find.

opinion guy wrote: »

Unless you have links to back this up it seems you are just making sh1t up to back your viewpoint.

I'd wonder if said poster thinks that "dem forungurs get free cars when thuy get thur free mansion when thuy gut off the boat"? Free house, free car, and automatic job for the foreigners? That's a wet dream for those crazy foaming at the mouth Nazi's!

reprazant wrote: »

Unbelievable scones.

That's very racist against scones :rolleyes: :pac:

WetDaddy

jpcarlow wrote: »

Well said :-D

The last taxi driver i dealt with used google maps to find the bowling alley

Was he threatening to strike?

Paparazzo

Morlar wrote: »

Here is a thought, I continue to spend my money based on my preference formed through my experience and you do the same.

I get whatever taxi is top of the queue.
You'll continue to be racist so and avoiding giving business to people based on skin colour. I hope you don't work in an HR department, law inforcement, justice system or any position of power.

Funny that we still give out about the "no blacks, no dogs, no irish" that the brits used to use when so many of us in this day and age are doing the exact same thing.

Morlar

Paparazzo wrote: »

--blah blah blah you are a terrible person blah blah blah -

Not at all. I just prefer taxi drivers who know their way around and have manners.

opinion guy

pabloh999 wrote: »

Perhaps you are unaware there is a whole section of society here on student visas. Coming from India Mauritius Africa. These are only the ones i meet. They come here to learn English study business etc and are allowed work part time. Elder care in the case of Mauritius taxi in the case of Africa
Its actually hard to get in here if you have low qualifications.

a) Whats wrong with this ? You say they are allowed to work part time. They are here, legally to study. They are legally entitled to work part time. Why should they not work ? Edit: Also - they spend money, often their exorbitant fees are keeping our universities going. They are also NOT getting any social welfare or social support. These people OVERWHELMINGLY contribute to our society. Why should they not be allowed work ? Earning money which they spend again in our economy.

b) What does this have to do with taxi driving ?

Paparazzo

Morlar wrote: »

Not at all. I just prefer taxi drivers who know their way around and have manners.

Keep telling yourself that if it helps you accept your racism easier.

TEMPLAR KNIGHT

So we're constantly being told to buy Irish produce to support Irish jobs...but yet wanting an Irish cab driver is bad? If I'm paying for a service I should get to choose who I get that service from. If people prefer eastern European drivers would that be viewed as racist, I doubt it!

Morlar

Paparazzo wrote: »

Keep telling yourself that if it helps you accept your racism easier.

Does it really bother you so much to discover that people will make decisions based not on how the world should be but based on how it actually is (in their experience) ?

If so, then you need to accept the fact that not everyone thinks exactly as you do. You may consider yourself more evolved & intelligent based on that difference, but others would disagree.

I will spend my money how I choose to spend it.

If, in my experience, Irish national taxi drivers know their way around the city significantly better, are easier to deal with (in that, for example - if they take a wrong turn or make some mistake then they will own up to it rather than try to bluff their way out of it), if that is a part of my experience (which it is) then that is what I will base my decisions upon. You are free to base your decisions on your experiences, or, on how you think things should be if you wish. Stop trying to tell other people how to think or make choices.

golden lane

the point is...are you allowed to show you are irish or not.......

if not........that is a national disgrace.......

Morlar

TEMPLAR KNIGHT wrote: »

So we're constantly being told to buy Irish produce to support Irish jobs...but yet wanting an Irish cab driver is bad? If I'm paying for a service I should get to choose who I get that service from. If people prefer eastern European drivers would that be viewed as racist, I doubt it!

Exactly. Not everyone is qualified to be a historical walking tour guide either (as an example). Some public facing jobs require extensive customer skills, communication skills, language skills and extensive geographical knowledge that you won't necessarily pick up in a couple of weeks/months or even in a couple of years, especially if you are from another continent, language, culture etc.

Smidge

Cianos wrote: »

I'm afraid you are racist. Due to your limited (and I sympathise that you had to deal with 3 very uncomfortable scenarios, however 3 people don't represent a race of people, you were just unlucky) personal experience, you are now placing prejudgement on other members of that race and using this prejudgement to put them to a disadvantage by not only witholding your custom for which the law has deemed them equally entitled to, but recommending others to do the same.

Of course the damage isn't just to taxi drivers, it's to the wider immigrant community where attitudes like yours do little to help integration and tolerance and will help lead to bigger problems down the line.



Maybe you weren't racist before, but are now, since according to yourself you couldn't have been called racist for getting the taxis in the first place, but now since you refuse to get a taxi with a black driver, using your same definition you should be called racist;



Again I sympathise that you have had bad experiences, but you have to realise you're using those bad experiences to place judgement against others of the same race unfairly. I think it's understandable given it's natural for people to form patterns as a defensive mechanism, but you have to realise your own experiences, while important to you, are very limited in the grand scheme of things and for that reason shouldn't be used as an argument about race, and will only make you come across as a bit of a racist.

You have missed my point entirely.
I have taken many many taxi journeys over the years with many different nationalities of drivers. White Irish, Eastern European and even an Indian guy!
As I previously stated if I was racist about the colour of their skin(which to be quite frank, I couldnt give a damn about) I would have never gotten into the taxi with the African guys in the first place.
Three taxi's, three African guy's, three bad experiences.
They represent their race whichever way you want to cut it, I didn't create their attitude.

BTW in no way was I abusive or disrespectful to these men at any time. On the contrary, all three treated me like that.
I have noticed on this thread the usual things about Irish taxi men, moaners,crooks etc
Is this considered racism???
Or is it a generalisation?
Which I think you misunderstand to be the same thing as racism.

golden lane

people who have a penchant for calling other people racist......

are ususlly racist themselves, trying to cover upm that fact...

twinytwo

firstly what has killed the taxi business was the invention of the sat nav.... now any half wit can be a taxi driver.. where before you needed to know you way around the city, which usually ment you were local.

Secondly regarding the light... if all irish taxi drivers were to have window flag thingys as the tri colour.... if that being patriot or being racist??

Finally... i couldnt give two ****s about people from another country. I will only ever use an irish taxi driver.

recylingbin

I'm inherently racist. It's not something I'm proud of, but I know, deep down, that I'd never go out with ... well, you know.

mikeym

That Varadkar talks some load of baloney!!!!

Bandiam666

If you are not allowed to have a country for whites or suffer been racist. You can't have a business for whites only...Whites assimilate & integrate in every way i.e intermarry with all these WORLD immigrants & magic happens an end to racism...I'm open to contradiction always. I believe this is the motto that is in action all over western world true or not?

mikemac1

Saw a taximan with a sticker
Come on you boys in green


I'd call him a football fan, Leo Varadkar reckons he is a flamin racist

Chinasea

Barber shop/tattoo parlour recently opened.

It's just short of the green light over the door too. It has a massive tricolour walloped onto the wall. Just in case some think this is just a matter of questionable patriotism, to me it smacks of rather and literally:

"if you’re Irish come into me parlour"... and by the way we ain't no Eastern Europeans.

Blue_Seas

I hate the argument that keeps coming up about food. "It says guaranteed Irish! Bord Bia!! Is it racist to promote Irish made food now too?!?1?1!?1?"

No. That's an atrocious comparison. A more correct comparison would be if food had labels on it saying "Made by pure Irish people only!" and "NOT TOUCHED BY FURRINERS!!!". The green lights (if they're actually about taxi drivers being Irish, although I've gathered they're not) aren't saying "use this, you're supporting Irish industry!" like the food labels are. Any cab driven by any driver here is supporting an Irish cab industry. Proclaiming you're Irish on a cab is saying that you think by being Irish you're better than other nationalities working in the same company. It has nothing to do with pride.

Fromthetrees

I get the first taxi I spot every single time.

The Scientician

I wonder does Varadkar have an issue with ITICA.

gerryo777

opinion guy wrote: »

Why are you obsessed with how people got visas ?

The fact is they got visas. Therefore they are working as the are legally entitled to do. Simple as. No problem.

Are they though?
Seem to remember a primetime program showing one nigerian chap renting out his many taxi's and plates to all and sundry.
How can you tell if they are here legally or legally entitled to work here?

opinion guy

gerryo777 wrote: »

Are they though?
Seem to remember a primetime program showing one nigerian chap renting out his many taxi's and plates to all and sundry.
How can you tell if they are here legally or legally entitled to work here?

They have official licenses on their dashboard. If the guy in the picture is the same guy driving your taxi then he is legal

irishgirl19

28064212 wrote: »

The solution to the taxi-driver's woes is quite simple. Form a professional union, with strict joining requirements. Create a minimum set of criteria: good car, clean car, excellent knowledge of the locality, low prices. Make these taxis identifiable to customers and develop a reputation for excellence. These are things customers care about.

Things customers do not care about once the above criteria are met:

1. Irishness of the driver
2. "Double-jobbing"
3. The taxi regulator

Any union based on any of the above have absolutely no interest to the customer, yet they're the most commonly displayed attributes on taxis. I've never once seen a taxi proclaiming their excellent local knowledge, or that they have a great, clean car that provides a smooth ride, but I've seen dozens of "Irish", "Full-time taxi-driver" or anti-regulator stickers.

Dozens of industries self-regulate. They create their own professional bodies to ensure that members are recognised as adhering to a minimum set standard. Yet taxi-drivers, for which there are virtually no entry barriers, have not copped on to that fact

The taxi drivers already have a union. There is no money in it at all anymore they start letting too many people do it. There are more taxis in Dublin than there are in NYC

PrincessLola

TEMPLAR KNIGHT wrote: »

So we're constantly being told to buy Irish produce to support Irish jobs...but yet wanting an Irish cab driver is bad? If I'm paying for a service I should get to choose who I get that service from. If people prefer eastern European drivers would that be viewed as racist, I doubt it!

Sure you're entitled to an Irish taxi driver but you are a racist because of this. There is no debate, no ones going to pat you on the head and tell you its not racist. Deal with it.

28064212

irishgirl19 wrote: »

The taxi drivers already have a union. There is no money in it at all anymore they start letting too many people do it. There are more taxis in Dublin than there are in NYC

And that's why I bolded the professional part. The current taxi drivers' unions spend their time proclaiming the Irishness of their members, their full-time status, and bitching about the regulator. None of which their customers give a flying fuck about. I laid out an entire system which they could use to improve their lot, I never claimed they didn't have a union

evolving_doors

twinytwo wrote: »

Secondly regarding the light... if all irish taxi drivers were to have window flag thingys as the tri colour.... if that being patriot or being racist??

Finally... i couldnt give two ****s about people from another country. I will only ever use an irish taxi driver.

First of all how would you know they were Irish? Because of a Flag??

Now go back to your previous point..

twinytwo wrote: »

Secondly regarding the light... if all irish taxi drivers were to have window flag thingys as the tri colour.... if that being patriot or being racist??

Finally... i couldnt give two ****s about people from another country. I will only ever use an irish taxi driver.

Now... Supposing you hailed a taxi and you saw the flag, so, hopped into the taxi without looking at the driver and the guy turns around and just happens to have, shall we say ' a non irish complexion'.

What would you do?

A. Tell him where you want to go and be totally fine with it.
B. Hop out and tell him what country to go back to.

be honest

Spook_ie

You are all still losing the track of the thread, if the light is designed to show the Irishness of a driver, who is being racist the driver for proclaiming his nationality or the customer for wanting to use him?

The driver would only be being racist if he refused to provide the same service to black/chinese/asian customers etc. most drivers now don't care what color your euro is! if having a light allows them to corner a bit of the market then that's just business sense, afterall even racists are allowed to use taxis

K-9

Spook_ie wrote: »

You are all still losing the track of the thread, if the light is designed to show the Irishness of a driver, who is being racist the driver for proclaiming his nationality or the customer for wanting to use him?

The driver would only be being racist if he refused to provide the same service to black/chinese/asian customers etc. most drivers now don't care what color your euro is! if having a light allows them to corner a bit of the market then that's just business sense, afterall even racists are allowed to use taxis

Well I suppose the Nigerian lads could go round showing Nigerian signs and everything is sorted.

Dr. Jonathan Crane

I see no problem with it. I'd choose an Irish driver every time. I've had numerous African and Eastern European drivers and they were purposely slow, took the longest route and wouldn't have two words to say to you or even bother replying half the time. Fair enough some don't want to hear an Irish taxi driver moan but I'd rather have a chat than sit in silence for half an hour.

Also here's two things - I get a taxi home maybe once a week from town when I'm out, always get the taxi around central bank/George's street. Same two people with me, I'm the last out. Usually the fare is between 21 - 25 euro. A few weeks ago we were driven home by an African gentlemen and the fare came to €22 and I realised I'd only a €20 note, I asked him did he want me to run in and get the difference, he told me yes and to hurry up as he had only started for the night.

The next week we had an Irish taxi driver who asked us about our night and how exams were if we were doing them (we were at a well known student night). Fare came to €24. I opened my wallet which had two fivers and a twenty note, I took the twenty out first and as I went to take the fiver out he told me to hang on to it and enjoy the rest of my night.

You can be as PC as you like, but they are providing a service and people should be allowed choose to their own preference, if Irish drivers choose to advertise this then more power to them, equally if non nationals choose to do the same I see no problem with it.

Hermy

PrincessLola wrote: »

Sure you're entitled to an Irish taxi driver but you are a racist because of this. There is no debate, no ones going to pat you on the head and tell you its not racist. Deal with it.

Are you for real?
Next thing you'll be telling us we're all racist for supporting Ireland in the Euro's!

fishy fishy

Blue_Seas wrote: »

I hate the argument that keeps coming up about food. "It says guaranteed Irish! Bord Bia!! Is it racist to promote Irish made food now too?!?1?1!?1?"

No. That's an atrocious comparison. A more correct comparison would be if food had labels on it saying "Made by pure Irish people only!" and "NOT TOUCHED BY FURRINERS!!!". The green lights (if they're actually about taxi drivers being Irish, although I've gathered they're not) aren't saying "use this, you're supporting Irish industry!" like the food labels are. Any cab driven by any driver here is supporting an Irish cab industry. Proclaiming you're Irish on a cab is saying that you think by being Irish you're better than other nationalities working in the same company. It has nothing to do with pride.

what about the "truly Irish" ad. as racist as can be

cowzerp

Last taxi I got from an African fella was awful, he was unfriendly and just grunted at me and my missus, it was a long enough journey and was very uncomfortable as it felt like he had an issue with us, if you provide a service then making your clients feel comfortable is a must.

Most Irish Taxi drivers will waffle the ears off you, yeah some talk awful gick but most of the time it makes the journey that bit easier than sitting in an awkward silence.

Now in saying that a married friend of mine got a Taxi off some Irish lad after a night out and he was asking her to be his fcuk buddy etc so i suppose duds can come in both cases.

Overall I have had better experiences with Irish drivers though, who knew the route and tended to be friendlier than their African counterparts.

fishy fishy

i was out one night and there just happened to be a taxi rank across the street. I saw three african people blatently walk down the line of taxis on the rank until they came to one they wanted to get into, with an african man driving it.

is that racist? or can you only be racist if you are white?

cowzerp

fishy fishy wrote: »

i was out one night and there just happened to be a taxi rank across the street. I saw three african people blatently walk down the line of taxis on the rank until they came to one they wanted to get into, with an african man driving it.

is that racist? or can you only be racist if you are white?

well said, i think people should do what makes them comfortable-if i spend money i like to have the choice who and why i pay, could be that people are racist or could be they just feel they'll get a better cab driver of an irish lad, either way it's the payer's choice.

Plus i doubt African's want to be driving home racist's anyway..

Itwasntme.

I've been in numerous taxis with drivers from different ethnic backgrounds here in Dublin. From my experience, the most talkative was a Chinese dude, the most racist*, a Nigerian and the one and only time I have been ripped off was by an Irish guy.

I usually use a local taxi company, since I have found most of their drivers to be really nice and decent although now that I think about it, none of them are black. This is strange in an area that has a high population of black people, some of whom I imagine are taxi drivers.

In a queue, I always take the taxi at the head of the queue but at random, I tend to pick the African driver (I am African) over the white driver. Racist? I think not. Every single taxi driver of African origin I have met has been Nigerian. Many have been racist*, the majority made inappropriate advances but I think they are the underdog in the taxi market.

*There's a school of thought that argues that racism is about power:
"Racism is prejudice plus power. On the basis of this definition, while all people can be prejudiced, only those who have power (both material and moral) are really racist." Caleb Rosado, The Undergirding Factor is POWER; Toward an Understanding of Prejudice and Racism.

Toby Take a Bow

Dr. Jonathan Crane wrote: »

I see no problem with it. I'd choose an Irish driver every time. I've had numerous African and Eastern European drivers and they were purposely slow, took the longest route and wouldn't have two words to say to you or even bother replying half the time. Fair enough some don't want to hear an Irish taxi driver moan but I'd rather have a chat than sit in silence for half an hour.

I've had differing experiences, but on the whole I've found you get bad drivers regardless of their race. One time with a Nigerian taxi driver spent ages driving around some northside estate neither of us knew at all, and he charged us for the extra driving around. But then I had an Irish taxi driver who didn't really know where a street off Stoneybatter was. We had to direct her, and she made a couple of odd turnings, and also charged us for the extra time. The one thing I would say with regards to (some) foreign taxi drivers is that, on the whole, they seem to be better able to judge the mood of the passenger, in that they will happily chat away if they see it as appropriate and keep quiet if the passenger is obviously unwilling to talk. This I prefer.

Dr. Jonathan Crane wrote: »

Also here's two things - I get a taxi home maybe once a week from town when I'm out, always get the taxi around central bank/George's street. Same two people with me, I'm the last out. Usually the fare is between 21 - 25 euro. A few weeks ago we were driven home by an African gentlemen and the fare came to €22 and I realised I'd only a €20 note, I asked him did he want me to run in and get the difference, he told me yes and to hurry up as he had only started for the night.

The next week we had an Irish taxi driver who asked us about our night and how exams were if we were doing them (we were at a well known student night). Fare came to €24. I opened my wallet which had two fivers and a twenty note, I took the twenty out first and as I went to take the fiver out he told me to hang on to it and enjoy the rest of my night.

Only time anything similar happened to me was when I had a very pleasant conversation with a Chinese taxi driver, who refused any sort of tip after I had told him about being made redundant. He also rounded down the amount a little.

The problem about all these arguments is that there is no 'characteristic' associated with a race which means you will be ripped off in whatever way. You get this with some Irish/Chinese/African/whatever taxi drivers. And if you have a bad experience, and then only use Irish born-and-bred taxi drivers, your general experience will obviously lead you to conclude that the race of that driver who ripped you off means they can't be trusted.

fishy fishy

if you have been using the same company for taxis for the past twenty years, and continue to do so, is that racist?

for instance, if you are at a rank and you see your local companys taxi sign, which you have been using for two decades and you choose this, are you being a racist. Especially if you have been doing it for twenty years, bypassing other taxis in favour of this company.

Actually, if you decide to use a reputable and reliable company at all, are you being racist?

do you see how ridiculous this all is

Higher

The greatest taxi man I ever got was a Chinese lad with a Dublin accent who kept saying 'fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking' in a real Dublin accent. It was absolutely hilarious. He was a complete legend.

Every night since whenever I get a taxi I walk down the Taxi rank ignoring both Irish and African drivers looking for that Chinese legend. I haven't found him since.

El Weirdo

fishy fishy wrote: »

do you see how ridiculous this all is

What, the first few lines of your post?

fishy fishy

Higher wrote: »

The greatest taxi man I ever got was a Chinese lad with a Dublin accent who kept saying 'fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking' in a real Dublin accent. It was absolutely hilarious. He was a complete legend.

Every night since whenever I get a taxi I walk down the Taxi rank ignoring both Irish and African drivers looking for that Chinese legend. I haven't found him since.

racist in favour of the chinese !! :D:D

fishy fishy

El Weirdo wrote: »

What, the first few lines of your post?

dont give up the day job el weirdo.