Big yellow taxis not stopping for minorities in D.C.

Saturday night, a comedy club in Washington, D.C. ? a black comedian paces the stage.

?We… Saturday night, a comedy club in Washington, D.C. ? a black comedian paces the stage.

?We all have dreams,? he says. ?My dream is that, one day, come what may ? ? and he touches his hand to his heart, ?that I can catch a cab.?

I?m giggling, maybe a little drunk, and laugh enthusiastically. And then I realize I am the only one in the club laughing. People are looking at me with that glazed stare most reserve for children or especially stupid animals.

I was there, in a mostly white club, in a mostly white neighborhood, with my totally Jewish youth group, who didn?t get the joke. I try to explain that most people in Washington, D.C. ? read most non-white people ? cannot get a cab, because of the drivers? racial discrimination.

A study released Oct. 7, done by Washington Lawyers? Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and Hogan ‘ Hartson, a law firm, confirms this. Cab drivers regularly pass by non-white potential clients, and do so in flagrant violation of the city?s Human Rights Act of 1977.

This might seem like something minor, but it is a persistent problem, so much so that the D.C. Taxi Cab Commission can impose heavy fines ? $250 for the first offense and $1000 each for three or more subsequent offenses, according to an Oct. 7 article in The Washington Post.

In fact, three stings done in 2001 yielded $23,500 in collected fines. Clearly there is a problem that needs to be addressed here. Compounding the issue is that cab companies claim that their drivers are not employees ? they?re independent contractors, and therefore the companies cannot tell the drivers when, where or who to drive.

Why, in a city that?s mostly non-white, with cab drivers that reflect this demographic, can?t most people get from Point A to B without hassle?

I can?t drive. When I tell people in Pittsburgh this, their eyes tend to bug out. Not drive? That?s absurd.

But in Washington, D.C. ? with its superb subway system and tangled bus routes ? it?s more common. Cars are a pain to park, maintain and keep from getting stolen.

What the cabbies are doing is racial discrimination ? one interviewed even admitted to it. ?I know. I discriminated myself. You have to. You don?t want to get robbed,? he said in The Post.

This form of racism is hard to get a handle on. When blacks discriminate against blacks, or Salvadorians against Salvadorians, it?s still racism, because race is the sole factor in determining whom they will drive, and whom they will pass by. Race, sadly, is still our American obsession.So, fast forward from my comedy club faux pas to a Friday night in Adams Morgan, a recently gentrified, formerly artsy neighborhood. I?m walking with two friends, all three of us well dressed. One, Peta, needs a cab home. She?s tall, wearing a lime green headscarf that compliments her skin, which is about three shades darker than mine.

She sighs and puts a hand up to hail a cab. A series of yellow cars drive by, but none stop. We walk to the corner, thinking that maybe it will be more fruitful. A cab does stop, but instead of picking up Peta, the driver asks Megan, who?s white, if she needs a ride. Megan says yes and Peta hops in the cab, much to the driver?s surprise.

We laughed about it, sure, because that?s D.C. for ya. But, thinking about it, I have to say it scared me a bit. When I?m stuck someplace not serviced by public transportation, I usually hail a cab.

There?s no real way to tell which cabs are on or off duty ? the triangular prism lights on top are lit when the driver is on call, busy or forgets to turn it off ? so how can I judge where busy-ness ends and discrimination begins? I tend to think the best of people, even when Peta?s and the comedian?s experiences prove me wrong.

But, every time I put my hand up and get passed, or call and am told taxicabs won?t come to my neighborhood, my faith is eroded, if only a little.

If Sydney Bergman were a cab, she?d discriminate, but only on the basis of plaid pants. E-mail her at sbergman@pittnews.com.