[cpher]

I would even go one step further. Certainly less than felons. For some reason in Chicago, I at least feel "safer" in a taxi because of the screaming decals and colors of the car.

I had an Uber from the southside to Midway, and I felt like just getting into his car I was being set up in a sting operation. I (white guy) shrunk down in the back seat the entire time. The dude was nice, but holy shit what does CPD think when white guys get in the backs of gangbanger's cars (yes, my driver was nice but sketchy, and his car was exactly the mid-90s low-riding Pontiac you see around here getting busted all the time). I felt like I was his "ride" while he circled the southside between drug pickups. It gave him an "out."

On the flip side, had an awesome middle aged white woman take us from A to B on the northside of Chicago. She was doing it as a part-timer and super nice.

I guess my point is that maybe with taxi companies you at least could/should have a hiring/interview process? I'll plead ignorance to the Uber/Lyft process, but is there even an interview? It's just hit or miss in Chicago.

[dang]

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11655027 and marked it off-topic. Your comment wasn't off-topic per se but it threw the thread that way.

The personal attacks were bad but you already know that. The racial comments are a problem because whether you mean them that way or not, people are certain to read them as slurs. It's hard to conceive of a comment like yours not throwing an HN thread off the rails.

[cpher]

thank you, well explained.

[YuriNiyazov]

Congratulations on your blatant racism. You go to southside, and you object that the person that is working in that neighborhood fits "the stereotype".

[cpher]

Yuri, after seeing these comments, we're going to have to agree to disagree. I'm not sorry for being angry, but I'm sorry for getting personal. I'm sure you're needing some help with something local to your community, unless you want to start a thread of how to help kids on the south side of Chicago get into this community.

[YuriNiyazov]

Apology accepted, as well as the agreement to disagree as well. FWIW, I've lived in some very choice parts of Oakland and Brooklyn throughout my life, so I am familiar with the environment, and the need for safety. The hard work in normalizing relations is exactly that: giving people that set off your spidey sense an opportunity for honest work.

[cpher]

Give me your honest opinion: to what degree am I racist if : 1) the Uber pulling up is an obvious gangbanger 2) If I refuse the driver for whatever reasons Uber lists when drivers pull up.

I'm going to assume your objection is to #1. If so, do you have any fucking idea how institutionalized racism is in Chicago, especially with CPD? Even sane white folks know this. There are mostly good apples, but some bad ones, and we don't need to be a part of any dragnet.

[YuriNiyazov]

Here's my honest opinion on how I read your latest statement: "Racism is institutionalized in Chicago by CPD, so the correct thing to do is to follow the procedures established by the racist institution because otherwise I am going to be ensnared in the dragnet."

[cpher]

Are you really that naive to think gangbangers and drug dealers don't use ride-sharing programs and exploit it to their advantage? Every system will be exploited. If you dare live in the environment, you might experience it.