Pyramid of society

Posted in a blog by a 15 years old Qatari high school student;

This topic has been the center of a lot of my arguments with my peers, family, and friends, basically everyone. It also bears a lot of significance to me, I hope you benefit from reading it, and more importantly, I hope it triggers some form of deep-leveled thinking within each and everyone of you.

In most of the world’s previous (and current) civilizations, there has always been a form of hierarchy or class in society, you’ve got the slaves and peasant farmers, then the military personnel, then come the rich merchants and traders, and at the top are wealthy land owners. You would think that because of us being in the 21st century, people would have reached a point in which they realize that there is truly no point whatsoever, in dividing up humanity into the superior and the inferior. Sadly, that is not true.

One of the most critical issues in Qatar (well to me anyway) is racism. In Arabic culture, it is very common that you know your family’s history, place of residence, and achievements..etc Now what’s important in Qatar is the authenticity of your family, yes, even if you possess the burgundy-golden passport, you should not expect to be embraced yet. Certain family names have been linked to certain areas, for example: Al Hajri are recognized by their sometimes showing Saudi Arabian accent, which links them to Saudi Arabia.

You’re safe from the country’s gossip and BBM broadcasts as long as you are from the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Yemen). 

Here’s the black list for Qataris: (you mustn’t be here!)

Iranian origin
Yemeni Origin
Usually, the way one spots out someone who originally descends from Persia is by simply looking at them, Qataris are usually somewhere between brown, light, and tan. If the alleged Qataris were pale white, than you narrow it down, because there are still some “authentic” Qatari families with a bit of white in them, then you ask about their family name, and that’s how you become 100% sure about a Qatari person’s background.
Of course, the government generally doesn’t care, which is surprising in itself, because actually, the best paid Qataris are usually those who are claimed to be originally Persian, maybe it has to do with the fact that they have better business experience from history.
But where it does matter whether or not you are seen as real Qatari is within the society itself, at Qatari-dominated work areas and at Qatari schools. At my old school, we used to tease students who were extremely white and had Persian-linked family names, telling them that they were fake, unauthentic, and that society is never going to endorse or consider them as a part of it.
Up to this point, I have only been talking about racism within Qataris, the part that I really want to put emphasis on is the relationship between Qataris and foreigners.
All hail the Qatari Pyramid of Society:
Royalty Being part of the Royal Family is a dream come true to many pointless people here, because at one point in a Royal’s life, they have access to scary amounts of money and power. People aspire to marry from this part of society, because if your little girl gets married to a member of the Royal family, then you will have a blessed and comfy life filled with fake-ness. Some people kiss up to this part of society so much, that you can almost detect some worshipping going on.
Westerner at number two come Jack and Renée. Westerners are highly regarded as the highest level of sophistication reachable, to modern Qataris they are worthy of imitation, to more traditional Qataris, not so much. Nevertheless, Expats from the Western world (US, Europe, Canada..etc) are usually treated as welcomed guests.
Regular Qatari here you have your regular chunk of Qatari society, although even this part is slightly divided up into the more and the less elite (as discussed previously). But in general terms they’re one and the same.
Khaleegi (KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain) People from these four countries are also given considerable respect, because of the mutual-ness that the four countries share with Qatar.
Other Arabs Here you basically have the rest of Arab countries, starting with countries like Lebanon (high) and ending with something like Sudan or Yemen.
Egyptian I created a separate category for Egyptians, this is probably the most screwed up position to put Egypt in, Egypt probably contributed to 30% of the World’s history. This is just wrong.
Filipino I have deep love and appreciation for all of the Filipinos here in Qatar, I personally adore them and their patience in having to put up with the daily servings of crap. If it was in my hands I would personally give each and every Filipino in Qatar a better life.
Nepali or Indian This category brings the most sadness to me. Nepal is a country of greatness, great mountains, great religions and great history. And don’t get me started on India, there’s just too much genius in that country. And for Qataris to simply frolic along and abuse the fact that a portion of the Nepali/Indian society is illiterate, jobless, and desperate is just sickening. I feel obliged to personally reeducate all of the construction workers, laborers, and cleaners here, and send them to parts of the world where they are better payed, and more importantly, better treated.
The reason why I slightly highlighted some of the history of these countries is to test out the Qatari/Khaleeji model of thinking. We have seen that if you have more significant history in your blood, then you are deemed more worthy of a high-end life, right? Well guess what, we are being self contradictory, because, last time I checked, Egypt goes back to 3000 B.C.E, that’s like 5000 years worth of pyramids, math, science, philosophy, and greatness. Same goes for India. However, we are not treating them as equal because of their CURRENT socioeconomic status as “poor people”.
Sure, I understand, you demand people to build your cities, and then to keep maintaing them. And I’m not asking for something that is ahead of our time like, “You must educate these people, and then help sending them off all over the world for job opportunities” No, I don’t expect Qatar to reach that level of correctness. Nor am I saying let the Qatari people themselves build their own towers, hahahha that’s so impossible that it’s funny. What I am asking for however, is to treat them as humans. Be humane, provide basic necessities, comply with international regulations, give them a small present on Eid, Christmas, or Buddha’s day, put smiles on their faces, and provide appreciation for their monumental efforts in building Doha.
Even in our own religion, Islam, there is an indisputable saying that basically states that there is no difference between Arabic and foreign, red and white, black or yellow, except by the level of faith each carries. All human beings descend from a common central point of origin, to us it is Adam and Eve, to you it could be whatever you want it to be, as long as we are all aware of the fact that we are made of the same material, and that family name, color, ethnicity, and origin really don’t matter in the big scheme of things.
I feel sad, very sad in fact, whenever people whom I respect and label as role models, start referencing origin and ethnicity as a way of showing how bad something is, they use ethnicity is an emphasizer, or highlighter of bad qualities. I will give some examples of everyday speech which will be in quotations, and then a contradictory factual statement.
“He got a 20 out of a 100 on the test, what is he? Indian?!” The NYTimes entitles India as the world’s smartest nation.
“She’s really ugly, what a Filipino!” Miss Philippines was the 3rd runner up in the 2011 Miss Universe beauty pageant.
“Eww he’s so barbaric, such Yemeni qualities!” The Yemeni Empire rivaled that of Greece and Rome in sophistication and civilization.
To warp it all up, I must say that we cannot be fully and completely un-racist, even so, it would take a complete shift in thinking. However, the situation in which we are in is just disturbing; maids being tortured verbally and physically, Nepali construction workers committing suicide because of the lack of life in their lives.
Even if this message is not realized or acknowledged by the general public, you, by yourself, can influence the people within your environment. If you show respect and appreciation to the working force, if you stop, and reverse what Filipino and Egyptian mean locally, into something like “Wow that country is so great, it’s reminiscent of Egypt” People within your aura are affected, at least slightly, by the way you think and act. You are capable of change, we all are. And I just hope that you realize the potential within you to provoke that change.
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