Uber is taking a black drivers’ side after a racially charged argument. Video dated Sept. 2 shows the man kicking out several passengers after one made a “white privilege” comment. Then one person, apparently the one sitting in the passenger seat, called him a “b—h ass n—-r.”
In a statement emailed to Law Newz, the company supported the driver.
“We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind on the app and the incivility shown here is completely unacceptable,” an Uber spokesperson wrote. “The driver reported this to us shortly after the incident occurred and we permanently removed the rider’s access to the Uber app.”
Neither the driver nor the customers’ were identified.
Footage shows several passengers entering the car, and one says “white privilege” twice, apparently randomly. The driver asks the other riders to close an overhead compartment they accidentally opened, then he questions the man in the passenger-side seat, concerned with his apparent behavior: “Are you okay?”
He talks it out with two male passengers for a short while, and tells one not to touch his stuff. After a short drive, he pulls over the vehicle, and tells everyone to leave. “You’re nothing but a b—h a– n—r,” said one male rider in response.
Cue an argument, which largely occurred outside the vehicle. It seems like one male passenger was livid, but another tried to calm him down. Eventually, the driver got back inside, and continued to address one of the riders.
“That kind of mentality–if you’re not about that, then you need to stay away from people like that,” the driver said at the end of the video. “You have a blessed one.”
[Screengrab via unidentified Uber driver]