What is the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word; racism? For me the first thing will come to my head is the racism between white and black people. But you know that there is racism here in Kuwait also.
Well racism in Kuwait is a very common phenomenon. It does not only happen between Kuwaitis and expatriates, but even within the Kuwaiti community itself. In Kuwait, Kuwaitis discriminate fellow Kuwaitis because of the color of their skin and because of a person's tribe or origins.Let me first define what exactly racism mean; according to www. merriam webster.
com website Racism, by its simplest definition, “is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race”. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their racial groups. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment.Racial discrimination typically points out taxonomic differences between different groups of people, even though anybody can be racellized, independently of their somatic differences. In this paper I will argue the idea of racism and show that it exists not only between people but it does exist from the government itself.
This is an article written by Muna Al-Fuzai in kuwaittimes. net talking about one of the situations that some expatriates face from most of the Kuwaitis.The article is called “Kaifi, Ana Kuwaiti! well Kaifi, I'm a Kuwaiti, is a term basically used by a lot of people in Kuwait. It means - it's up to me to do whatever I want; simply because I’m a Kuwaiti! Upon this idea they treat any Non-Kuwaiti that they are inferior.
They think that they have the right to do whatever they want and they have the eligibility and the priority in everything. Well not only the Kuwaiti people are racist; also the government is being racist in many situations. The government distinguishes between a Kuwaiti and Non-Kuwaiti; and that is too obvious in the work field, hospitals and in finishing the paperwork.In the work field Kuwaitis take salary more than any other nationality even if they are in the same position and even if they are not qualified for the position, they also take high salaries. I have talked with one of the employees in a certain company telling me his story about the discrimination that he faces in the work field.
He said that he always come to work and leaves in the exact time of the work hours and in the same place his Kuwaiti colleague comes late to work and leaves early, and doesn’t work as well as him, and finally the Kuwaiti guy take salary more than the Non-Kuwaiti.Under the subject “salaries of expats: Is There Hope? ” Muna Al-Fuzai wrote in the Kuwait Times newspaper “I have to admit that this complaint comes mostly from family men whose wives and children are here with them in Kuwait. Their children go to private schools and they have lots of fees to pay such as health fees and residency fees as well as their rent and transportation fees. These people also feel that the prices in Kuwait are getting too high and this is really hard for people who have a limited income or who depend on one salary in case their partner is not working.
I sympathize with these people and I see that their complaints make sense. Unfortunately, most Kuwaitis are not paying too much attention to this problem. ” (Al-Fuzai) This issue needs our attention because disregarding the woes of expats' salaries will have a negative impact over Kuwait and Kuwait's work environment. The woes of expats in regards to salaries create jealousy, hatred and slowly poison the work place and reduce the spirit of cooperation, friendship and sincerity.After a while, these expats get the impression that no matter how hard they work, no one will appreciate what they do. If we are due to update the salary system in Kuwait, then we must consider the needs of all workers in our country and avoid classifying people's salaries based on their nationality.
We need to only focus and classify people's salaries based on the work they do and how much they do. She added “For example, expatriate teachers don't receive the same salaries as their Kuwaiti colleagues. Why not? They do the same job and have the same hours, but they do not have the same income!I would call this a great injustice. These teachers are fed up with the rumors they hear and read in the papers over the increase in their salaries because they never see it happen! They are expected to do the same jobs and hours their Kuwaiti colleagues do but not receive the same salary? Why not? Most expatriates who come to Kuwait are not here to take a vacation; they come here to work and get paid. If they don't receive their fair amount, I can't blame them if they would go on strike and demand for their rights.
Hope and justice can never fade when people are calling out for it. ” (Al-Fuzai) Moreover all of that there is also racism when it comes to medical treatment. I have personally talked to one of the doctors that works in Al-Hady hospital and she said to me that there are some medicines allowed only for Kuwaitis, and other nationalities have to buy it from pharmacies, but not all the medicines are exist in the pharmacies so they don’t have the right to take that medicine just because they aren’t Kuwaitis.She added that also in hospitals they allow for Kuwaitis only to take certain medicines for free or with a lower price but in the other hand they forbid it for expatriates to take it with the same features and they make them to buy it from pharmacies with a high prices which they might be able to afford it. Well there is no religion that didn’t fight racism with all kinds of it.
Islam came and fight racism between people and stated that there is no difference between one and another except with his work and what he give to the society not with how much money does he has on the bank or his family name or he is Kuwaiti or not .Islam declares equality among people as one human race, one humanity, that is because Islam respect a human for being a human not for any other reason; Islam does not distinguish between two races, or two groups of people, or between two colors, and the Prophet Muhammad (saw) addressed the people signifying that concept during the last Hajj pilgrimage, saying: "O People! Your God is one; your father is one; no preference of an Arab neither over non-Arab nor of a non-Arab over an Arab or red over black or black over red except for the most righteous. Verily the most honored of you is the most righteous.Also in the holy land where the annual Hajj pilgrimage and the Umrah is performed, the equality is even clearer and stronger that is because during prayer people may differ in their clothes but during Hajj pilgrimage and Umrah the Ihram situation oblige every one to only wear simple white clothes which equates the rich and the poor, the governor and governed, all walking around the Holy Kaaba asking one lord. Racism is a sad reality.
But it shouldn’t flourish to the point of causing deep tensions between the people, we all are human there is no difference between us so why do we put difference according to nonsense reasons.
