uh... gang bangers have money and smart phones too. They used to rob people for $200 Air Jordans. Now it is for iPhones. Maybe you were confusing "gang banger" with "poor".

To use Uber I think you have to give a credit card. I think this is be biggest deterrent to breaking any laws: they already know who you are and if you commit a crime they can find you. I suppose a gang banger could use a fake credit card to set up an account just to then get a cab and rob them, but that creates a big hurdle that I think will eliminate lots of crime.

That is different then. The parent comment was about money and a smart phone being enough to remove the possibility of picking up a gang banger. Having a credit card on file is a whole different thing.

The first sentence is still true if you remove the race references from it. Is it still racist then? Or is it just showing differences based on income level?

It is using differences based on income level as a piece of information that is more important in a driver's decision making process than race.

Cab drivers who do not have that information fall back to race. Presumably, if a crystal ball existed that told a driver "This fare will not harm you", the problem of racism would disappear.

There aren't many drivers who are refusing money out of pure racial hatred. Black cab drivers are racist against blacks too.

Gang bangers or hipsters. My ethnographic lesson for America is done now.

How is it 'still racist'?

Hey, progress is progress. At least we're seeing some improvement.