nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Racism alive and well

TeddyTedson

Just got a taxi home after a night out. My taxi driver was Nigerian and I was asking him about any racism he's experienced whilst working during the night as a taxi driver.
He told me people have simply refused to get into his taxi after he's pulled over after seeing he was a black man...
This is not the first time I've heard this.
Several black taxi drivers in Dublin have told me of a ridiculous abuse they've received from Irish people on Saturday nights home from town.
To me it feels like it's people copying American suburban culture where middle class white kids feel like the black population has had a negative effect on their lives.
I think all Irish people should never forget we are a nation that for years have been happy to flee to all parts of the world to set up shop and expect to be accepted.
I'm sorry for the **** explanation but I'm obviously still drunk and this is kind of embarrassing to me as a proud Irishman.

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Rodin

How does someone from Nigeria/Sierra Leone/Iran get a visa to work here?

stupidusername

I would have to admit that I'd be a bit warey of getting into a taxi driven by a black guy. not because of any other reason than i've had some creepy experiences with black men that scared me, and so it's hard to ignore it. I've no problem with black people in general, wouldn't take any notice if they're black or not most of the time, just when it comes to something like this, if i was getting in alone, i would be a little warey.

[Deleted User]

Of course it's alive and well. It always makes me laugh when a white Irish person claims there is no racism in Ireland. Of course you don't notice it, you're flippin' white! I see what people mean about African drivers not knowing where they're going, but I've had the same kind of experience with other foreign drivers (Polish etc) and plenty of the Irish drivers are just gob****es.

Dudess

There is of course racism in Ireland, like anywhere, but some folks who get a hard-on from constantly ranting about how backwards "we" Irish are make it out to be like Alabama in 1964.

AskMyChocolate

SeaFields wrote: »

There is some taxi "union" down in Cork that they refuse to let non-irish into it or some other such crap (there was a lengthy thread in AH about it.) Since I saw this on the news a few years back I'll get into a taxi with a non irish driver when I can. Fcuk em - probably tarring all of our lot with the same brush.

The last taxi got got the fella was from Sierra Leone. He knew the way to my front door and we'd a good chat about hurling on the way back.

"If you're going to get sick let me know so I can pull over."

jim69

black taxi drivers seem to take the most obscure and expensive route possible.taxi plates shared between many,photo and number never match driver,what happens if your in crash ? not insured id think

dsmythy

State the obvious thread. Did you think it disappeared?

Sergeant

I treat all taxi drivers with a healthy contempt regardless of colour.

token101

To be fair all taxi drivers get abuse! Doubt its racist and if it is he should pull over at a cop station with the person in the car and go in and report him/her. If hes getting hassle because he doesn't know the area and then ends up overcharging because of that then he kind of deserves it! Been in cabs loads of times when cabbies (even 'local' cab drivers) end up circling the area because they haven't a clue where they are and expect you to tell them. It's their job to know thats why they get paid by you!

And with African drivers, I have been in a cab once where the picture didn't look a jot like the driver! It's not racism to be thinking curiously who exactly is driving the cab since it clearly ain't the guy in the ID!!!

RGDATA!

TeddyTedson wrote: »

To me it feels like it's people copying American suburban culture where middle class white kids feel like the black population has had a negative effect on their lives.

what are you basing this take on "American suburban culture" on? It seems a bizarre, unfounded statement. If anything you could argue the complete opposite re: the influence of black culture on middle-class white suburban kids.

BickNarry

jim69 wrote: »

black taxi drivers seem to take the most obscure and expensive route possible.taxi plates shared between many,photo and number never match driver,what happens if your in crash ? not insured id think

Yeah,i'd say you're just making things up.

kelle wrote: »

I rarely use taxis as I don't drink, but the rare times I do I will only use one with a lady driver. It's my choice, I pay for the service, my personal safety is at stake so I feel I am entitled to pick and choose who I travel with.

I guess that makes me sexist.

A woman is far more likely to be raped or assaulted by someone they know.

And we don't have a load of rapes going on every Saturday night. I can't get my head around your point. I think the person least likely to rape you is someone who is working the same area every night.

Men arn't controlled by sexual impulses.I think you're over reacting. Had to say it.

rochey84

My best friend's dad is a taxi driver and for years he used to tell us not to get into a car driven by a foreigner, I used to tell him to not be so racist. Now that being said I've had good and bad experiences of foreign taxi drivers:

Good:
Got into a taxi on Whitehall Road in D12 and asked to be brought to Break For the Border (Ironic now that I think about it cause he was a black man) but he didn't have clue where it was but he was honest about it and said it to me straight up so I suggested getting out of the car and getting another cab so he turned off the meter and said he'd do the trip for €10 (ususally €15 or so)

Bad:
Was walking over the ha'penny bridge extremely bladdered, (my plan was to walk to Hanlon's Corner and then get a taxi to Tyrrelstown where I'm living) anyway next thing I'm approached by the coloured man who insists that he is a taxi driver and that he just so happens to live in Tyrrelstown and is going home now and wants to give me a lift free of charge because I'm obviously in a bad way, I politly declined sayin that I had a plan but there are only so many times you can say free to a drunk man before he eventually says "ok" so I asked where his car is and he points over to Bondi Beach Club on the quays. So I get into his car and I blacked out, next thing I know we're in the phoenix park (not the quickest or most direct route to Tyrrelstown) and the meter is reading over €17, so when I asked him about it he insisted that the meter comes on by itself, so I asked to be let out of the car he became really aggressive and to get out of the situation I had to open the car door while it was still moving.

The upshot of this whole story is he ended up calling the Gards on me, the gards were really nice but told me I either had to pay him or I was getting arressted so now cause of that bastard I have an Adult Caution!!!

Micky Dolenz

Racism is alive and well in every country.

OutlawPete

☯

I like both black and white boobs.

That's what this is the symbol for, right?

[Deleted User]

If there's lots of taxis parked on a road I'll sneakily look in the windows as I'm passing to sort of suss out the driver, but to be honest I'd more often end up getting in with someone who's black, as I notice far more white drivers who look a bit dodgy, whereas I'd notice more black drivers who seem sound. However, if I get a taxi driven by someone Nigerian I don't chat with them, just give them the odd direction or two. Any conversation I've ever had with Nigerian men has been a little weird. I've a cousin married to a Nigerian guy so I've met a lot of his family/friends. It's not a colour thing, it's a cultural one. They're pretty much always sound, get me home for less than 20 quid and take my directions pretty well (I live in Howth which is easy to find, but once you get there it takes some tricky directions to get to the house). It's just the conversation. Bit weird in my experience so I don't have a chat with them when I'm being driven home, that's all.

However, about racism being alive, definitely. My mother harbours a lot of that "coming into our country and stealing our jobs and women" crap. There was an awful lot of hoo-hah about my cousin getting married too. My mum claims that the state has "made" her "racist by giving all them foreigners more benefits than decent Irish people". Also I'm not sure she realises that not all black people are foreign.

Killer Pigeon

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

aww teddy what will you get up to next?

Burning a few Qur'ans I hope!

Latchy

Oh_Noes wrote: »

You make a very good point. There is no historical or cultural basis for racism in Ireland. We haven't had huge numbers of Africans coming here and taking jobs or breaking the law. I hear it all the time, "bloody foreigners" and the like. It's easy prey for the traditional Irish begrudger that wants to make himself/herself feel bigger by putting someone else down. Having a different skin colour is cannon fodder really.

I honestly do think that a large number of people here will just see American television and take the extreme stereotypes and use them to discriminate. It's absurd in reality.

TeddyTedson wrote: »

I think all Irish people should never forget we are a nation that for years have been happy to flee to all parts of the world to set up shop and expect to be accepted.
I'm sorry for the **** explanation but I'm obviously still drunk and this is kind of embarrassing to me as a proud Irishman.

True enough but the double standards of the Irish immigrant is nothing new .Remember reading two interesting articles a few years ago ,one about the Irish in California who were in the majority that voted against keeping Mexican immigrants out of the state , a big enough problem I know but these people who voted would have being decendents of Irish immigrants themselfs .

Also around the same time an Egyptian waiter was asked in an interview of their expierence with tourists and there behaviour towards them and the interviewer was surprised when he said said it wasn't the British or Germans Irish who gave him the hardest time no , it was the Irish who would laugh and shout abuse across to the staff about how much they earned in a week ( back home in celtic tiger Ireland ) compared to what he the barmen would earn in a year . Not the behaviour of most Irish people I know

kelle wrote: »

I rarely use taxis as I don't drink, but the rare times I do I will only use one with a lady driver. It's my choice, I pay for the service, my personal safety is at stake so I feel I am entitled to pick and choose who I travel with.

I guess that makes me sexist.

I can understand if some women feel uncomfortable getting into a taxi alone regardless of the colour of the driver remembering that women on their own have being abducted, assaulted and murderd by taxi drivers .

Am thinking of the London cabbie who aducted ,drugged and assulted/ raped up to 80 women (that are accountable for ,many more may not have being reported ) and the more recent murder in Swindon by a local taxi driver

TeddyTedson

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Burning a few Qur'ans I hope!

Undoubtedly :pac:

Oh_Noes wrote: »

You make a very good point. There is no historical or cultural basis for racism in Ireland. We haven't had huge numbers of Africans coming here and taking jobs or breaking the law. I hear it all the time, "bloody foreigners" and the like. It's easy prey for the traditional Irish begrudger that wants to make himself/herself feel bigger by putting someone else down. Having a different skin colour is cannon fodder really.

I honestly do think that a large number of people here will just see American television and take the extreme stereotypes and use them to discriminate. It's absurd in reality.

This is what I wanted to say.

jackiebaron

TeddyTedson wrote: »

Do I have a point or am I just a brudy drunk?

Feckin' Irish. Always drunk!!! :P

CrazyRabbit

Some of the most racist people I've met are taxi drivers. It's amazing how common it is to get into a taxi driven by an Irish guy only to have him rant with racist remarks for the entire trip.

Generally I don't care who's driving the taxi. But there was one case where I didn't get into a taxi that was driven by a non-national. It was nothing to do with the driver, but the car itself was infested with insects, including 5 moths. He got really upset when I went to the taxi behind him, even after I explained why.

Killer Wench

The assertion that American television and/or culture has any role on how Irish people treat Nigerian-Irish folk is completely ridiculous.

El Horseboxo

I've lived in the US where i experienced racism in every facet of daily life where people made decisions based on the color of your skin. And i can honestly say Ireland is not even remotely close to anything like that. I never have the police stopping me here although i did have one refer to me as a spic and i don't recall many decisions made where i felt my skin color played a part. It's mostly just been some smart comments from drunk people. Something about tacos or whatever. As i mentioned in another thread my biggest experience of racism has come from non Irish over here. I've heard a lot of bouncers use the word czarnuch in my presence which is the Polish word for n1gger.

Just because there are some instances of racism here it doesn't mean it's rampant. Irish people use physical features a lot in their slaggings and while it can be construed as racism i think it's just mostly part of the Irish sense of humor and no real maliciousness meant in it.

ricero

Racism alive and well ?

nice to know

Mike 1972

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

But there was one case where I didn't get into a taxi that was driven by a non-national. It was nothing to do with the driver, but the car itself was infested with insects, including 5 moths. He got really upset when I went to the taxi behind him, even after I explained why.

You should have agreed to get in the taxi on condition that you get to split the fare with the other passengers :pac:

Grumpypants

Ill skip the Irish taxi drivers and choose a black one as often as possible because i'm sick of getting ripped off by Irish taxi drivers and having to listen to their racist rantings. It always starts off im not racist but....

mikemac

Grumpypants wrote: »

having to listen to their racist rantings. It always starts off im not racist but....

Not realy aimed at you but I read this a lot.
If a driver is ranting, why not get them to stop?

When I get a taxi it's usually after a late shift at work and wrecked tired so I sit in the back and look out the window. I rarely ever talk to a driver, they don't need to hear "you busy tonight?" from me

If a driver is ranting and you let them continue, sorry but you can't realy complain afterwards.
Tell them to stop or even that they are boring you and they will.
I do it, and usually get them to turn off the radio also

But best to sit in the back and not talk to the driver in the first place.
If you don't engage with them, they're not realy going to get started unless they want to talk to themselves

Mike 1972

Grumpypants wrote: »

Ill skip the Irish taxi drivers and choose a black one as often as possible

Theres just one flaw in your cunning plan

The black guy could turn out to be Irish !

Oranage2

I've no problem with asian or black taxi drivers though they usually have a problem with taking a group of people back to tallaght!

But people shouldnt have to come up with an excuse if they dont want to use a black taxi, if they dont want to use it they dont have to as it iss a service after all - I heard a story of a crumlin plummer doing a bad job on a neighbors house so i dont use tradesmen from crumlin, does that make me a racist?

Grumpypants

feelingstressed wrote: »

Not realy aimed at you but I read this a lot.
If a driver is ranting, why not get them to stop?

When I get a taxi it's usually after a late shift at work and wrecked tired so I sit in the back and look out the window. I rarely ever talk to a driver, they don't need to hear "you busy tonight?" from me

If a driver is ranting and you let them continue, sorry but you can't realy complain afterwards.
Tell them to stop or even that they are boring you and they will.
I do it, and usually get them to turn off the radio also

But best to sit in the back and not talk to the driver in the first place.
If you don't engage with them, they're not realy going to get started unless they want to talk to themselves

Coz im busy trying to sneak bits of my kebab with out him noticing.

RichieC

kelle wrote: »

My point is, a person using a taxi on their own can't be considered racist if they feel more comfortable travelling with somebody they are familiar with,

I've only ever been in a taxi one or twice with a driver I knew previously..