The shooting of a Muslim cab driver in Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving Day is a jolting example of how mindless hatred can endure, regardless of where we live.

This is not who we are. We’re better, by far, than world views that would have us harm, kill or look down on others simply because of their religious beliefs or skin color.

On Tuesday the Council on American-Islamic Relations urged authorities to investigate the shooting as a hate crime. Based on what we know now about the attack, there’s no other way to proceed.

The council says the 38-year-old driver, a native of Morocco in North Africa, was questioned by a passenger about his background. The passenger also satirized the Prophet Muhammad and spoke of the Islamic State before stopping the taxi at a home on Second Avenue, going inside to retrieve a rifle and shooting the cabbie in the back as he sped away.

The cabbie said his passenger had him wait, claiming he had left his wallet in his residence, buying the shooter time to retrieve his rifle.

An FBI spokesman in Pittsburgh said the bureau is reviewing the case to determine if it was racially motivated. Pittsburgh police are still searching for the shooter.

The hate crime designation carries more severe punishment because a hate crime targets an ethnic or religious group, not just an individual.

The taxi driver, who has not been identified, remains hospitalized in stable condition. He had been working for the Mars-based Cranberry Taxi Service for more than a month before the shooting.

The attack has prompted members of Pittsburgh’s Islamic community to speak up and express frustration and pain over how this region has responded in the wake of coordinated attacks in Paris last month.

One member of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, who spoke anonymously, said Muslims are routinely called names and made the object of obscene gestures on the streets these days.

It bears repeating: We are better than that.

Western Pennsylvania is a kind-hearted, hardworking and tough-minded region. We’re immigrants and descendants of immigrants. We judge a man or woman on what they’ve done and how they act, not on where they’re from and how they look.

To his credit, the driver, who is about three months away from becoming an American citizen and hopes to become a teacher, hasn’t let hate or fear creep into his own heart, even after such a vicious and senseless attack.

“This is due to the person, not the city,” he said. “Pittsburgh is my style, it is like my hometown in Morocco. My dream is to be an American.”

How can you feel anything but respect and admiration for a man who says and does all the right things?