The federal government refuses to profile airline passengers, but New York City taxi drivers are being urged to profile potential passengers before giving them rides.
Following an attack on a New York taxi driver, the head of the city's taxi-drivers' union is urging cabbies to "profile your passengers; it's very important."
Fernando Mateo, president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, gave that advice at a press conference Saturday outside the hospital where the cabbie is in serious condition, the New York Post reported.
"I don't care about racial profiling. You know, sometimes it is good we are racially profiled, because the God's honest truth is that 99 percent of the people that are robbing, stealing, killing these drivers are blacks and Hispanics," said Mateo, who is Hispanic and has a black father. "So if you see suspicious activity, you know what? Don't pick that person up."
Mateo's comments, of course, drew immediate condemnation.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/taxi_big_fair_to_profile_0QVhd88HvjGJbruypDUj2L
