Racism and New Immigrants

The cab industry, from its first days, had to deal with many issues, one of them being racial strife. Many taxi drivers were prejudiced on their own part by refusing to go into certain ethnic areas of the city. As robberies increased, even with the use of the bullet-proof partition, the racism grew. Some cabbies would even turn their light to "out-of-service" if hailed by a rider of a different color. This racism stayed a prevalent part of the industry for many decades.

With Irish, German, and Italian immigrants first taking the wheel in the early twentieth century, the decades passed and the cab became a reflection of the new waves of immigration entering the city. By mid century, more Latinos and African-Americans were found driving the yellow cab, and later on in the waning century newer groups such as South Asians became more common in the industry.

For new immigrants coming into the country, cabs offered an avenue of work that was not always available in other venues. It allowed these people, despite the often long hours and hard work, to provide for their families and start a new way of life. One way for a small group of minority people to purchase the medallion on the cab (which today can be several thousand dollars) in order to control the fares. This was a sure way to make a better life for the group as a whole.