Job Discussion Forums

[mishmumkin]

An African-American friend of mine and her family have lived in Saudi before. They left for a contract in Egypt, but they are now considering returning to the Gulf. They had been told that the UAE was more racist than other nations in the region. What's the consensus on this? Which of the Gulf nations, if any, would be considered more tolerant?

[007]

[mishmumkin]

[veiledsentiments]

As usual, 007 is picking things out of his... imagination.

I can't see any reason why the Wahhabi of Qatar would be more tolerant than those of Saudi.

I'd guess that Oman should be less racist because of the strong links to Africa from their colonies. Many Omanis look very much like African Americans.

VS

[Neil McBeath]

The American Embassy used to b elieve that, too, VS.

In the 1980's they had a cohort of African-American Marine Corps guards at the Embassy. Six feet tall, bulging with muscles, shimmering with gold chains, they hoped to pass unnoticed along Ruwi High Street.

[veiledsentiments]

Thanks for the good laugh Neil. I can very well imagine the depth of their misconceptions. Some things never change.

Those dudes stand out like sore thumbs in Harlem...

VS

[007]

(MOD edit for unnecessary political hijack)

[helenl]

I agree VS, Omanis are probably the most tolerant to any other ethnicity/nationality of all GCC countries. Not being an African - anything and having only a few colleagues who were all African-African I can speculate that African Americans would experience some discrimination which would mostly disappear (usually) once it was understood they were American rather than African - hopefully there's someone with first hand knowledge who can provide better information

[mishmumkin]

They are considering moving back to Saudi over the UAE because an African-American friend working in the UAE said he felt the people in the UAE were more racist. I would imagine that one would have much less "exposure" to Emiratis than Saudis, thoughs perhaps his complaint is registered w/ the UAE population overall (not just Emiratis).

[007]

[veiledsentiments]

[Cleopatra]

There are quite a few black Saudis, but they tend to be in the lower socio-economic groups: you'll notice there's a disproportionate number of them in low-status jobs compared with other Saudis.

From what I've heard from black acquaintances here, racism is at least as likely to come from their "Western" colleagues than from the Saudis. Which is not to say there is no racism among Saudis: certainly there is, but it seems to be directed more at Indian/Pakistanis, as they are the people most associated with menial labour in KSA. Also, as has been said above, nationality may well trump skin colour here, and once people know you are American, that will up your 'status' in their eyes. All very foolish of course, but then all such prejudices tend to be. On the plus side, I would say that you would be highly unlikely to experience any race-related violence in KSA, or anywhere in the Gulf.

[mishmumkin]

This couple had a pretty negative experience in Egypt. He was hired (in person) with a new school. After a couple of months at work with pretty much no notice they tried to get him to sign a resignation letter. Though no one had ever complained or advised him that he wasn't doing his job properly, they told him he wasn't a "good fit"

I suppose they're a bit gun shy. They've got a family in tow, and can't afford a repeat of what happened w/ a seemingly reputable employer in Cairo.

[veiledsentiments]

I think that in the Gulf, if they wanted to discriminate, they wouldn't have hired him in the first place. I have never heard of any situation like that.

It is apparent that in Egypt, they hired him in desperation and got rid of him as soon as they could... and it was likely student/parent complaints.

VS

[Cleopatra]