lily
01-26-2007, 12:49 AM
Link (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/25/oppenheim.cabbies/index.html?eref=rss_topstories)
If you drink, some cabbies won't drive
POSTED: 5:58 p.m. EST, January 25, 2007
p.m. ET.
By Keith Oppenheim
CNN
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- It's always interesting to me, that in my
own country, I often get assignments where I walk into a room, and everyone
looks and sounds different from me. Different language. Different culture.
And sometimes, different beliefs.
On this story, I crossed such a threshold.
I stepped into the taxi depot that serves the Minneapolis - St. Paul
International Airport, where drivers sit and wait for their next fare. In
this crowded, noisy room, most of the cabbies are Muslims originally from
Somalia.
"We're doing a story about the conflict between the cabbies and the airport.
The Muslim drivers have been refusing to take passengers carrying alcohol,
such as wine or liquor purchased at a duty free shop," I explained.
A group of men gathered around us.
"This is America, we have freedom of religion," says one cabbie. We could
see their feelings are intense -- that the issue seems to cut to the core of
their identity.
"The Metropolitan Airport Commission is discriminating against us Muslim
drivers," says Abdulkaddir Adan, a Somalian-American who's been driving a
cab in the Twin Cities for two years.
We asked Adan if he'd give us a ride, and let us interview him while he was
driving. He agreed. CNN Photojournalist Derek Davis set up a "lipstick" cam,
a small camera, positioned on the dashboard.
From the back seat, I asked why Adan would object if I were carrying
alcohol.
"The one who drinks, the one who transports, and the one who makes a
business of it, they have the same category," he said.
"So, by my transporting my alcohol in your cab, you are sinning?" I asked.
"Sinning to God, yes," he replied.
Adan is not alone. About three quarters of the 900 cabbies serving the
airport are Muslim, and many have been regularly refusing passengers
carrying beer, wine or liquor.
In the past five years, 5,400 would-be taxi passengers at the airport were
refused service for this very reason, said the Metropolitan Airport
Commission, or MAC. Last May, passenger Bob Dildine says he waited for 20
minutes, and five cab drivers would not give him and his daughter a ride. He
was carrying wine he bought on vacation.
"They're here to provide service to people," said Dildine. "We were a lawful
customer, and we were denied service. That's not our way of doing things."
MAC officials said they don't know of any airport other than the Twin Cities
where this has become an issue. MAC officials explain that the area has a
growing population of immigrant Somalians, many who've sought jobs as taxi
drivers. Last year, MAC consulted local Muslim leaders, who issued a fatwa,
or religious opinion.
"It is expressly stated," said Kahlid Elmasry of the Muslim American
Society. "Transportation of alcohol for Muslims is against the Islamic
faith, and therefore forbidden."
Last September, airport officials sought a compromise, and suggested that
distinctive lights could be put on the roofs of cabs operated by drivers,
who will not transport alcohol. That way, taxi starters -- airport staff who
direct people into cabs -- could send passengers with alcohol to those
drivers who have no objection.
"But the feedback we got, not only locally but really from around the
country and around the world, was almost entirely negative," said airport
spokesman Pat Hogan. "People saw that as condoning discrimination against
people who had alcohol."
Right now, MAC says any cabbie who refuses a passenger carrying alcohol must
go to the back of the line. No small thing, given cabbies often have to wait
at the depot up to three hours for the next fare.
But because MAC officials have received thousands of complaints, they're
considering stiffer penalties: a 30-day suspension for a first refusal, a
two-year suspension for a second.
"We're now at a point where the drivers may have to make a choice," said
Hogan.
Adan is clear.
"I would leave my job, instead of doing something that's not allowed in my
religion," he said.
The interview with Adan took a long time. Our fare came to $150, a very good
day for him. Normally, he makes about $100 a day, so it became more clear to
us that refusing a fare is a big loss. But Adan said he won't accept the
idea that in America a cab driver should allow something his religion
forbids.
I feel the same way about this as I do about pharmacists that won't fill a prirscription for birth control or the morning after pill. If your faith doesn't allow you to do something, get another job.
Last September, airport officials sought a compromise, and suggested that
distinctive lights could be put on the roofs of cabs operated by drivers,
who will not transport alcohol. That way, taxi starters -- airport staff who
direct people into cabs -- could send passengers with alcohol to those
drivers who have no objection.
I was going to say, this sounded like a good compromise, just as in the cases of pharmacists that didn't want to dispense the pill, have another pharmacist on hand that would do it.......but then I read the next paragraph. So I still stick to my original opinion. If your religion doesn't let you do something, then find another job.
"But the feedback we got, not only locally but really from around the
country and around the world, was almost entirely negative," said airport
spokesman Pat Hogan. "People saw that as condoning discrimination against
people who had alcohol."
If you drink, some cabbies won't drive
POSTED: 5:58 p.m. EST, January 25, 2007
p.m. ET.
By Keith Oppenheim
CNN
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- It's always interesting to me, that in my
own country, I often get assignments where I walk into a room, and everyone
looks and sounds different from me. Different language. Different culture.
And sometimes, different beliefs.
On this story, I crossed such a threshold.
I stepped into the taxi depot that serves the Minneapolis - St. Paul
International Airport, where drivers sit and wait for their next fare. In
this crowded, noisy room, most of the cabbies are Muslims originally from
Somalia.
"We're doing a story about the conflict between the cabbies and the airport.
The Muslim drivers have been refusing to take passengers carrying alcohol,
such as wine or liquor purchased at a duty free shop," I explained.
A group of men gathered around us.
"This is America, we have freedom of religion," says one cabbie. We could
see their feelings are intense -- that the issue seems to cut to the core of
their identity.
"The Metropolitan Airport Commission is discriminating against us Muslim
drivers," says Abdulkaddir Adan, a Somalian-American who's been driving a
cab in the Twin Cities for two years.
We asked Adan if he'd give us a ride, and let us interview him while he was
driving. He agreed. CNN Photojournalist Derek Davis set up a "lipstick" cam,
a small camera, positioned on the dashboard.
From the back seat, I asked why Adan would object if I were carrying
alcohol.
"The one who drinks, the one who transports, and the one who makes a
business of it, they have the same category," he said.
"So, by my transporting my alcohol in your cab, you are sinning?" I asked.
"Sinning to God, yes," he replied.
Adan is not alone. About three quarters of the 900 cabbies serving the
airport are Muslim, and many have been regularly refusing passengers
carrying beer, wine or liquor.
In the past five years, 5,400 would-be taxi passengers at the airport were
refused service for this very reason, said the Metropolitan Airport
Commission, or MAC. Last May, passenger Bob Dildine says he waited for 20
minutes, and five cab drivers would not give him and his daughter a ride. He
was carrying wine he bought on vacation.
"They're here to provide service to people," said Dildine. "We were a lawful
customer, and we were denied service. That's not our way of doing things."
MAC officials said they don't know of any airport other than the Twin Cities
where this has become an issue. MAC officials explain that the area has a
growing population of immigrant Somalians, many who've sought jobs as taxi
drivers. Last year, MAC consulted local Muslim leaders, who issued a fatwa,
or religious opinion.
"It is expressly stated," said Kahlid Elmasry of the Muslim American
Society. "Transportation of alcohol for Muslims is against the Islamic
faith, and therefore forbidden."
Last September, airport officials sought a compromise, and suggested that
distinctive lights could be put on the roofs of cabs operated by drivers,
who will not transport alcohol. That way, taxi starters -- airport staff who
direct people into cabs -- could send passengers with alcohol to those
drivers who have no objection.
"But the feedback we got, not only locally but really from around the
country and around the world, was almost entirely negative," said airport
spokesman Pat Hogan. "People saw that as condoning discrimination against
people who had alcohol."
Right now, MAC says any cabbie who refuses a passenger carrying alcohol must
go to the back of the line. No small thing, given cabbies often have to wait
at the depot up to three hours for the next fare.
But because MAC officials have received thousands of complaints, they're
considering stiffer penalties: a 30-day suspension for a first refusal, a
two-year suspension for a second.
"We're now at a point where the drivers may have to make a choice," said
Hogan.
Adan is clear.
"I would leave my job, instead of doing something that's not allowed in my
religion," he said.
The interview with Adan took a long time. Our fare came to $150, a very good
day for him. Normally, he makes about $100 a day, so it became more clear to
us that refusing a fare is a big loss. But Adan said he won't accept the
idea that in America a cab driver should allow something his religion
forbids.
I feel the same way about this as I do about pharmacists that won't fill a prirscription for birth control or the morning after pill. If your faith doesn't allow you to do something, get another job.
Last September, airport officials sought a compromise, and suggested that
distinctive lights could be put on the roofs of cabs operated by drivers,
who will not transport alcohol. That way, taxi starters -- airport staff who
direct people into cabs -- could send passengers with alcohol to those
drivers who have no objection.
I was going to say, this sounded like a good compromise, just as in the cases of pharmacists that didn't want to dispense the pill, have another pharmacist on hand that would do it.......but then I read the next paragraph. So I still stick to my original opinion. If your religion doesn't let you do something, then find another job.
"But the feedback we got, not only locally but really from around the
country and around the world, was almost entirely negative," said airport
spokesman Pat Hogan. "People saw that as condoning discrimination against
people who had alcohol."