UAE IS NOT RACIST!

• I am british of arab decent, so you all must think I will have upper hand treatment. However, I will point out a few facts. Having lived the the gulf region most of my life, both in saudi and UAE, I would like to say arabs are NOT RACIST. I even went to an international school in the UAE and people of all nationalities never had any problems there. The word N*GG*R is almost none existence and has become popularised by the western society. My best friend is from yemen, and therefore practically black, and there are, I would like to point out many 'black arabs'. Therefore it would not make sense that dark people are 'racist' against other dark people. Africans don't have trouble there, there are many Somalis and Sudanese present. It is not a case of colour but more of class. AS IN ANY SOCIETY WITH SO MUCH MONEY, the inferiority extends only to those who are of working class. To be honest I get sick of the indian/pakistani workers there, not because they are from that country, for I have many asian friends, but because communication with these people and their behavior is irritating. They act like women are inferior and stupid. A man actually brushed me off when he came to fix the air con, I was telling him what was happening in terms of noise etc and he seemed to understand the problem only when it was repeated by a man. I can beat had I of been blond the case would have been very different. So there is racism and sexism from his behalf. Moreover another example is a construction worker telling me how to park my car, I have a UK driving license, parallel parking is very common, therefore being told by someone how to drive on the pretense that I am a woman makes my blood boil. I would also like to point out that a large percentage of the indian/pakistani population there is uneducated. The indians and pakistanis here in the UK don't want to marry people from back in their countries cause they are so 'freshy desi' i.e. a little backward minded and hard to get along with.
  
  I was never treated in any special way for being british or arab. However there are cases of 'abusing power' which is not new, politics is a great example for it, in any country. And while the foreigners seem to get this impression of dislike or racism or whatever you want to call it, if you took the time and showed interest in the people of the country, the people are more than accommodating, they will, and I kid you not, take you to the highest level of heaven. But foreigners seem to be not only rude and disrespectful to a culture and society which has been very inviting but abuse the country they are in and then complain about it.
  
  Finally might I add, is that arabs have had it bad, with nations around the world invading these lands from the beginning of time. There has never been a sense of peace in the middle east, this with the current population of foreigners outnumbering the locals in the UAE is a lethal combination for the attitude you see developing today. Furthermore, no one forced you to be in the country, you come to UAE to get rich and live a nice life and then complain...its to conservative, the locals are this, the locals are that.......I cant be a complete asshole in this country because of so many restrictions! Well had people not been so abusive to the system some of the laws passed now in the UAE would have never happened. So dont complain or go home!

  BRITISH ARAB 26 Oct 2008, 04:10 - Report

Racism in dubai