In the episode "The Taxi Caper" Mike mentions that Archie never picks up black fares. In "Archie the Hero" when Archie asks Edith and Mike to guess what he did today, Mike replies "You picked up a Puerto Rican." Archie replies "I said I was a hero, not a daredevil." I find it hard to believe that Archie could deliberately avoid picking up blacks and hispanics without the taxi company accusing him of discrimination. The taxi company must have been racist, but somehow they got away with it. I find that hard to believe too.

That practice still goes on today, sad to say. Danny Glover gave a public statement a few years ago about how he was trying to get a cab in NYC and was repeatedly passed over in favor of white fares. Rudy Giuliani was mayor at the time and ordered a crackdown on this practice, but it still continues. And you can bet it was a lot worse 30 years ago.