Is It Safe To Bring Alcohol (Or Dogs) On Cabs Yet?
Every city has its own unique problems with cab drivers. In Boston, it's cheaper to rent a car for the day than take a cab a couple of blocks. In New York, cab drivers don't like to pick up black people, even famous ones like Danny Glover. And in Minneapolis, cab drivers will refuse you if you are carrying any alcohol in your luggage, or maybe even if you have a seeing eye dog with you.
Many of you may remember when this scandal became national news in October, 2006. It was then that the rest of the nation first learned that many of the cab drivers in Minneapolis (of whom 70% are devout Muslims from Somalia) were refusing for religious reasons to accept passengers carrying any alcohol in their luggage. Though this had actually been ongoing for almost a decade at the time, the problem had been growing more widespread, especially when the Muslim American Society (MAS) (apparently an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood) issued a fatwah that Muslims were forbidden to carry passengers who had alcohol with them. The problem was most acute at the airport, where passengers frequently had alcohol from their travels or from last-minute stops at the Duty Free shop. In an effort to find a practical solution to the problem, the Minneapolis Metropolitan Airports Commision (MAC- not to be confused with MAS) wanted to put different lights on cabs that would not accept people with alcohol so that those passengers would go to other cabs. Before then, the rule had been that cabs refusing passengers had to go to the back of the line.
When the rest of the nation heard the story, there was widespread outrage. Predictably, the case spawned the kind of knee-jerk anti-Muslim sentiment that we have seen spring up all too frequently since 9-11 (like the ridiculous and detestable frenzy raised when Representative Keith Ellison planned to swear in over the Quran).
In this case, though, it was hard to find much to sympathize with on the side of the cab drivers. First, many Muslims such as Muqtedar Khan at the Brookings Institution, released statements that both condemned the actions of the cab drivers and claimed that the Quran did not forbid transporting passengers who were carrying alcohol. Second, apparently thinking they still had too many supporters, the cab drivers decided to prove true claims that this was only the tip of the iceberg. There were reports of cab drivers not picking up blind people with seeing eye dogs (since dogs are considered impure) as there had been in a number of other cities. There were even reports of homosexual men being kicked out cabs after exchanging a peck on the cheek (though I can't help but cynically wonder if this wouldn't perhaps earn the cab drivers points with the fundamentalist Christians who were some of their biggest critics). For a very detailed outline of events on the developments of this story, see Daniel Pipe's blog.
After the story broke, the MAC backed down on its plan for the separate lights and went back to sending cab drivers who refused passengers to the back of the line. As outrage continued to grow, and particularly offensive stories emerged, such as a man with his kids being dropped off on the street in the middle of the night mid-ride when he casually mentioned he had wine in his luggage, the MAC decided that this policy wasn't harsh enough. On April 16, 2007 the MAC met and voted 11-0 to adopt a new policy: starting in May any cab driver refusing someone will have his/her license suspended for 30 days on the first offense and revoked for 2 years on the second offense. It seems very likely this policy will be challenged in a legal battle, and we here at It's Still News will be more than happy to bring that to you as it develops.