Friday, March 30, 2007

Taxi Controversy in the Twin Cities

Minneapolis-St. Paul is home to the nation's largest Somali community, and more than 600 airport taxi drivers in the cities are Somali, most of them Muslim. About 100 passengers each month are denied transportation because the Somali taxi drivers refuse to haul passengers carrying liquor. Some drivers have also refused to carry blind passengers with guide dogs, on grounds that the Koran says dog saliva is unclean. And some Muslim store cashiers in the Twin Cities have refused to scan pork products, alleging this also violates their faith.

Read more about the controversy in Linda Chavez's article "Intolerance in the Twin Cities."

4 Comments:

At 3/30/2007 10:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

How the Twin City Somali cab drivers handle pork is of little concern to me, the bigger issue is how many of them have a valid drivers license, earned by knowing and following the rules of the road? How they deal with passengers carrying alcohol is also of little concern, how they treat women passengers, no matter WHAT they are carrying is the bigger issue. The missing keyword is the one Aretha taught us, R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Probably there are other jobs they would find more satisfying in these cases. Can we respect each other, and apply freedom to change? Or, must we always enter the cab saying TOUCH MY PORK.
The mantra of the week should be r-e-s-p-e-c-t. Say it repeatedly. Come on now, everybody. Just try. Spring forward.

 
At 3/30/2007 3:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

reminds me of the furor over pharmacists not prescribing the morning after pill.

 
At 3/30/2007 3:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

oops prescribing not the right word... "refusing to provide"

 
At 4/11/2007 4:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Vegetarians don't apply for slaughterhouse jobs, pacifists don't enlist, Mormons aren't baristas. But if once you wear the apron and stand behind the bar it's too late for deciding if you want to sell me coffee.

 

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