My father just reminded me of this story when I told him I was waiting for a cab. I’m not sure if I told it here before, but repetition is the mother of learning, as we say.
Back in New Haven I once called the cab company to request a cab.
“Is it OK if the driver is black?” the lady at the cab company asked.
Clarissa's Blog 
You haven’t told it before.
As for the question, of course, it’s racist, but it may show more about the customers than about this low level / wage telephone worker. Some people may concentrate on blaming her, without thinking a step further – asking that must be economically beneficial for the company.
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No, of course, I’m not blaming just that woman. It’s just an illustration of why I had such a culture shock when moving from Canada to US.
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I don’t see this post in your blog anymore, unless I click on my 1st comment to it.
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Press Ctrl+F?
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May be you would be interested in this post about how businesses can ignore large potential markets without going bankrupt:
http://ferretbrain.com/articles/article-986
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And the correct answer is, “Does he mind being black? Otherwise perhaps you can change his color for him?”
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