Somali Cabbies Again

As you may recall, the former Lutheran Mecca of Minneapolis is now a favorite destination of Somali immigrants, who now make up a majority of cab drivers in that northern burg. Some of the Somalis, with the enthusiasm characteristic of peripheral "Arabs," have rediscovered strict Islam, and are refusing to take on fares who are transporting alcohol, or even dogs, which the Somalis regard as unclean.

The Metropolitan Airport Commission is considering, and on Tuesday will hold a hearing on, proposed regulations increasing the penalties for improperly refusing a fare. Documents reproduced on Daniel Pipes's site. Warning: some regard Pipes as anti-Muslim.

My first reaction is surprise at the fact that Minneapolis, which we furriners think of as a Scandinavian icebox, has attracted enough Somali refugees for them to dominate taxi driving. Such are our times. How much exoticism, cultural, racial and religious, the heartland can stand is one question, which history will answer.

The issue of the demand for special rules for a minority religion is more interesting. I've commented on it before, and I won't belabor points already made. What's concerning is the tendency, in this country and abroad, to move toward special rules for the Muslim minority.

The Ottoman Empire developed the millet system, whereby each ethnic-religious group was governed, at least in matters such as marriage and inheritance, by its own traditional law. This system has survived in modern Israel, and is hardly conducive to national unity. It's "free exercise" taken to excess. The demands of Muslims in Europe often point in this direction. Although the U.S. has allowed free exercise of religious observance, it has only made minimal accommodations to religious differences in the secular marketplace, which is governed by uniform laws.

So, for instance, if you get a hack license, you're supposed to carry everyone, a sore point in New York City, where a combination of prejudice and the desire for self-preservation has led many cabbies to ignore black would-be passengers trying to hail them. It's also a sore point in Minneapolis, where people arriving at the airport carrying lawful substances or escorting lawful quadrupeds don't want to be subjected to a religious test.

A lawyer of a social observer can spin out complexities, exceptions and caveats here, but basically, it's simple. If you want a license to serve the public, you can't pick and choose what part of the public to serve.