As a Brit living in Cairo, I get to see a lot of this kind of thing. I remember sitting in a bar many years back and seeing some Egyptians from Cairo calling a Nubian “donkey” and other such things. Back then I wouldn’t have stepped in and said anything. I was too young and lacking in confidence. These days, I’m more likely to intervene in such situations, having more experience, confidence etc.
My main problem is that, as a white man, I tend to be told to mind my own business. The attitude is that as a non-Egyptian (and particularly a white Westerner) I have no right to comment on anything in Egypt, much less step in to defend someone from abuse.
It’s an interesting twist on the whole situation; as a white guy, I’m subject to the old “foreigners go home” attitude, and I can’t even fall back on “Well, I’m a Muslim, actually…” or “Well, I was born in Egypt, so it’s my country too…” In fact, my only defence in all such cases is as follows: We are all human, and therefore all equal. And bullying of any kind is wrong in any country, culture or language. Wherever I see something that feels instinctively wrong, I’ll step in a say something. And if people don’t like the colour of my skin, they can take a long walk of a short pier.
Like I say, what’s important is that we’re all human, living on an ever-shrinking planet, and evil behaviour is evil wherever it takes place. And I certainly don’t recognise being a foreigner as any kind of reason for keeping one’s mouth shut.
I just thought this might lend a slightly different perspective on the whole colour/racism/tribalism/jingoism debate.

Tom

Back in 1972, I found out about racism in Egypt. As an American who married an Egyptian (1971) my husband at the time was very proud to say, while he lived in the U.S., that Islam sees no color and that there is no discrimination in Egypt as there is in the States. However, on my first trip to Eygpt, in 1972, I saw blatant racism – against a little 9 year old girl named Ikhlas, who was made to carry our heavy suitcases up 2 flights of stairs. And, when she dropped them, they swore at her and hit her. I was appalled at the “Muslim Men” who took part in this behavior. I could not let that little girl carry my bags…so I carried my own and voiced my disgust with the “new” relatives and my husband. This little girl had very dark skin, compared to the others. My husband and his father also used the term “barbari” in describing those with darker skin color – imagine that – all the while saying that he did not discriminate!!
I could go on….with more observations.

Egyptians are very good people (at heart) but I believe that they do not see their biases, for whatever reason. Or, they have difficulty confronting their true, deep feelings.

Thank you for standing up for the right thing – again.

Let me just start by saying that race is not so clearly defined in Egypt due to the fact that – being geographically African, culturally Arab, and having endured centuries of inter-mixing – we cannot, realistically, be racist or we’d end up hating (quite often) our own family members. Case in point, was Anwar Sadat black, white, or what? He was darker than Obama, and had Sudanese/ Nubian blood. Him being president was not seen as a victory for people of color.

True, lighter skin and straight hair are perceived as signs of beauty; but that is no different from other cultures who perceive the opposite of their dominant features as rare, and therefore, desirable attributes.

Your points about the passive indifference and lack of reaction of the Egyptian masses to the mistreatment of others are very well noted. I struggle with that all the time: women are regularly harassed on the street, the rich and powerful get preferential treatment at government and private outlets, foreigners are treated as numero uno while Egyptians are always second class citizens in their own homes….and the list goes on. It is a phenomenon that spreads across the Egyptian landscape, but it is not racism. Which perhaps makes it even worse and more widespread. But that is the truth.

I, for one, am mistreated in my own country by the authorities on a regular basis. At check points, police stations, and almost anywhere where I come across the executive powers of our rotten, corrupt, inefficient, pathetic excuse of a government. But as soon as I brandish my Canadian passport, I receive apologies and respect. Go figure.

You’re right, we as a people behave hypocritically; taking the appearance of religion and not the core. Wearing the hijab and mistreating people, not standing up for what’s right. But its not racism. Its the classist corrupt torturous system some call ‘government’ that runs our lives that has instilled this in the people. It has created uneducated mutilated zombies whose only living hand to mouth just trying to make ends meet.

The woman who told you she remained silent cause she was afraid of the culprit’s reaction. That symptomatic of all our people, and its wrong. But its the way of Egypt today. Can you speak for any justice today in Egypt? Can you criticize el presidente? Heeelll no! You can beat around the bush and point fingers at those around him (the ones he places and removes at will), but you can’t talk about the truth, can you. Oh you’ll disappear so fast you won’t know what hit you. We can’t even hold protests in support of Palestine like the ones held in London, USA, the rest of Europe and even Israel itself!! If you do, the organizer’s arrested, the main activists imprisoned, and the protest kept in check behind university gates. And you wonder why we don’t speak the truth, support justice? For most people, its too high a price to pay.

Yes we mistreat Africans. We also mistreat our bedouins who’ve come to often deny any connection to Egypt. But do you blame them – I mean who wouldn’t when thousands of your people are imprisoned for years on end because of a handful of suspected terror bombers?

But most of all, Egyptians are mistreated Mona. The Egyptian government may have killed 28 Sudanese at the protests a few years back. But that same government has killed hundreds through blatant criminal negligence, for example, with the sa3eed train incident. And you know what they compensation paid for the hundreds of poor people slowly burnt to crisp on their way to their towns in upper Egypt to spend Eid was? Guess. EGP 5000. Yup, that’s less than it costs for a head of cattle. The going rate for an Egyptian life is less than that of a cow. How do you like them apples?

When you site the 33 Sudanese migrants killed at the border, please also remember the many hundreds more killed in our prisons every year, and the thousands tortured.

As for the Arab indifference towards Darfur. That is dictated by a strict political stance that is all too often shamelessly proclaimed by all the governments: we do with our own people as we please, no other Arab country should interfere in our ‘internal affairs’, don’t bring out my dirty laundry otherwise I’ll bring out yours. Examples: the massacre of the marsh Arabs and Kurds by Saddam, subjugation of the Shia in Saudi, mistreatment of the Berbers in North Africa, and the list is looong.

To sum it up Mona, yes we do have double standards, yes we are apathetic and hypocritical, yes we live in jungles where only the strong survive, yes we have become sheep for some messed up drugged up shepherds, yes, yes yes. But it isn’t racism I’m afraid, its far more inclusive of that. Your race don’t matter so much, its whether you are poor, weak, or downtrodden that determines how much abuse you’ll be served.

You are very right though with your suggestion that a united voice and common front is the only way to combat this disease that has gone too far for too long.