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Bleakus wrote:i kinda agree with bushra because ive been in the us for a little while and i saw some racism there, thats why i say it everywhere. I was even worse in the UK because im Bronze .....but its all good

Bronze?
Bleakus - with all due respect - in UK, if your white, black, Brown,Pink or green... you all have the same Human rights. You all get your paycheques on the same day if you all work in the same company, you all can complain AND TAKE ACTION should you be discriminated. My Friends from Asia have had an English Lecturer dismissed due to his attitude to certain things.
And OH, there are HARSH penalties for people who dont pay their staff for monthsin the UK.

I agreed with you about Racism being everywhere..... but i think you local guys need to take a step back and realise its a bad thing all the time. Not only when it happens to you.

sorry about that, i could have sworn you said that dubai was the most racist place, thats why i became so upset...my mistake

i wasnt trying to justify, or dismiss the problem that we have in the uae -- just wanted to remind people that racism is everywhere.

and you can take action here against racism. i used to work as in a law office, and the lawyers there were always busy dealing with cases on this issue. so, its not like you cant do anything about here....i guess the problem is that most people dont.

i never said its ok to discriminate against anyone. ever.

bushra21 wrote:i lived all over, from the east coast to the west coast...the north and the south....experienced the same things basically, but on a different level. i have to say though, the one place that i enjoyed the most was california -- a much easier time for me over there

its my favorite state too

rvp_legend wrote:

Bleakus wrote:i kinda agree with bushra because ive been in the us for a little while and i saw some racism there, thats why i say it everywhere. I was even worse in the UK because im Bronze .....but its all good

Bronze?
Bleakus - with all due respect - in UK, if your white, black, Brown,Pink or green... you all have the same Human rights. You all get your paycheques on the same day if you all work in the same company, you all can complain AND TAKE ACTION should you be discriminated. My Friends from Asia have had an English Lecturer dismissed due to his attitude to certain things.
And OH, there are HARSH penalties for people who dont pay their staff for monthsin the UK.

I agreed with you about Racism being everywhere..... but i think you local guys need to take a step back and realise its a bad thing all the time. Not only when it happens to you.

how do you know that a local guy is not paying the company employees their salaries? it could be the management(whatever they are) that are controlling this and causing an issue?
dude, i know racism is a bad thing, duh?! but i was answering to your answer, assuming dubai is so racist that you cant even live here. I am not stating that its ok to be racist

yeah the bronze thing, thats my color, im not black nor white, its a new race

"but i think you local guys need to take a step back and realise its a bad thing all the time". I already did that a long time ago, thats your opinion dude, i just love it when people generalize a whole race like that

I'm the one who said in some thread that Dubai is the most racist place I have lived in. It honestly is.

Some of the stories I hear from you guys about the US are just bizarre.

I have friends in Canada that I grew up with and they come from all over the world. We all look at each other as Canadian - not something else. Yes, some of our families had different holidays, and when we get invited to weddings and other celebrations they are a little different. We love the home-made food which is certainly different when you eat over at people's houses and they come from a different cultural background. None of my or my sister's Muslim friends have ever been treated badly by the police or called terrorists. Not like many of our friends every really need to deal with the police for any issues.

Everyone likes to think that whites don't face racism, but look at the stereotypes that some of you still have. You think that whites are the only group on the planet that don't face racism when it clearly isn't the case.

On top of all of this there are also issues of classism, s.e.x.i.s.m, ageism etc. so people could be biased against a person for more reasons than just their skin colour. Everyone likes to assume it is only skin colour though and claim racism every time.

Bleakus wrote:
"but i think you local guys need to take a step back and realise its a bad thing all the time". I already did that a long time ago, thats your opinion dude, i just love it when people generalize a whole race like that ;)

nicely said.

im trying not to though. i slip up once in a while. but hey, thats human nature to mess up every now and again

Bleakus wrote:how do you know that a local guy is not paying the company employees their salaries? it could be the management(whatever they are) that are controlling this and causing an issue?

Fact remains - wouldnt happen in the UK or US. Several cases of suicide due to staff not being paid for 8/9 months here in Dubai.

Bleakus wrote:dude, i know racism is a bad thing, duh?! but i was answering to your answer, assuming dubai is so racist that you cant even live here. I am not stating that its ok to be racist

Once again, the defensive mode. I have repeatadly stated that it is comparatively better than the other ME countries. i just compared my experiences of the treatment of some groups in Dubai to those in Europe.
It seems it takes quite an effort for people to admit the dirty side in their own backyard....duh?

Bleakus wrote:
"but i think you local guys need to take a step back and realise its a bad thing all the time". I already did that a long time ago, thats your opinion dude, i just love it when people generalize a whole race like that

you are right, its my opinion. When i say local, i mean on this forum. The likes of Yourself, Bushra and Naruto who have been quick to show the defficiencies in other countries as a move to cover the problem in yours it would appear.

If there, in my opinion, is one group guilty of Generalising others in Dubai dear Friend its not us foreign workers. Ask many White, European or USA/Canadian females..who at times may have to put up with price tags thrown at them.

Anyway Ramadan Mubarak.

Anyway Ramadan Mubarak.[/quote]

dude,

its true that there are some good things about dubai and locals and there are other things that are bad. The thing is with me that no matter how bad the situation is, i will defend dubai and local community. If there is something bad, then yes i will admit it. I still have the right to defend my kind dude, you know what i mean? if i dont then who will

your opinion is up to you

Ramadan Kareem

first of all dubai aint like london if you look at london theres loads of people from different parts of the world and they all living happily ever after

wot i meant was in london you can be friends with whoever you like. a paki can be friends with a white person and so on. but i noticed in dubai pakis or indians tend to be friends. y is it that pakis/indians or brownies dont have white friends hmmm.

another thing dubai is racist place. your salary is based on the colour of ur skin. and if u were at a government office like immigration you will be treated nicely if ur skin happen to be white whereas if u r brown they wont give a toss about u .

i was at the immigration office that day and the immigration officer looked at my passport and said u r brown so how can u be BRITISH. funny thing was that guy made a joke with his colleague about this which i happened to understand i didnt reply back to him, just said am a british muslim and said w'salam and the guy said w'salam quietly lol

i was in england for 18 years and i didnt come across a racism incident like i have here in dubai. have noticed how white people/ or arabs look at the brownines. ok now i m drifting away to another area.

locals are nice people but like in every society in the world you will have SOME who are not nice you can say the same for PAKIS indians or british. Locals are considered to be lazy because most of the people who interact with them on the daily basis regard them as lazy. For example in the immigration office i noticed the most of the public there was made up of arabs pakistanis and indians and the immigration officers must be bored of seeing the same people again and again thats y they become lazy and tend to do their jobs slowly. and hence thats y locals have a bad reputation if you ask the brownies . whereas if u happen to be white the locals would see a new person and they will give u a higher priority and get ur job done faster and maybe thats y locals dont have a bad reputation amongst the western crowd.

ok its bad and something should be done about this. whoever posted this post am assuming u r a local i dont have a problem with locals but next time u r at some government office do notice wot i have mentioned above and u will see where you are going wrong. and oh yeh we know its ur country but do u really have to push the que
its not about the money people are not jealous about the money but its true that if u have money u will get treated differently here in dubai and certainly if ur skin colour is on the light side.

by the way sorry for using the WORds white people. i aint a racist

rudeboy wrote:first of all dubai aint like london if you look at london theres loads of people from different parts of the world and they all living happily ever after

wot i meant was in london you can be friends with whoever you like. a paki can be friends with a white person and so on. but i noticed in dubai pakis or indians tend to be friends. y is it that pakis/indians or brownies dont have white friends hmmm.

another thing dubai is racist place. your salary is based on the colour of ur skin. and if u were at a government office like immigration you will be treated nicely if ur skin happen to be white whereas if u r brown they wont give a toss about u .

i was at the immigration office that day and the immigration officer looked at my passport and said u r brown so how can u be BRITISH. funny thing was that guy made a joke with his colleague about this which i happened to understand i didnt reply back to him, just said am a british muslim and said w'salam and the guy said w'salam quietly lol

i was in england for 18 years and i didnt come across a racism incident like i have here in dubai. have noticed how white people/ or arabs look at the brownines. ok now i m drifting away to another area.

locals are nice people but like in every society in the world you will have SOME who are not nice you can say the same for PAKIS indians or british. Locals are considered to be lazy because most of the people who interact with them on the daily basis regard them as lazy. For example in the immigration office i noticed the most of the public there was made up of arabs pakistanis and indians and the immigration officers must be bored of seeing the same people again and again thats y they become lazy and tend to do their jobs slowly. and hence thats y locals have a bad reputation if you ask the brownies . whereas if u happen to be white the locals would see a new person and they will give u a higher priority and get ur job done faster and maybe thats y locals dont have a bad reputation amongst the western crowd.

ok its bad and something should be done about this. whoever posted this post am assuming u r a local i dont have a problem with locals but next time u r at some government office do notice wot i have mentioned above and u will see where you are going wrong. and oh yeh we know its ur country but do u really have to push the que
its not about the money people are not jealous about the money but its true that if u have money u will get treated differently here in dubai and certainly if ur skin colour is on the light side.

by the way sorry for using the WORds white people. i aint a racist

Interesting to read your post.

A few comments if you don't mind.

First of all the difference in Salary scales is not according to colour of skin, but rather to your Nationality. i.e. British/Canadian/USA Passport holder will generally be paid much higher than Indian/Pakistani Passport holder, this is because the rates are compared with your home country.

Locals pushing in front, just think nice thoughts, your not going to change it.

To state that you never came across racism in the UK is complete and utter nonsense.

I am as my signature says, red inside along with all of my friends, I personally do not look at the skin colour.

sage & onion wrote:First of all the difference in Salary scales is not according to colour of skin, but rather to your Nationality. i.e. British/Canadian/USA Passport holder will generally be paid much higher than Indian/Pakistani Passport holder, this is because the rates are compared with your home country.

Funnily enough, still equates to racism - but i understand that you are only pointing it out and not neccesarily agreeing with it.

sage & onion wrote:To state that you never came across racism in the UK is complete and utter nonsense.

He only stated his experiences. and stated from his 18 years. You cannot dismiss that as nonsense - it is afterall his experiences. Thats not to say it doesnt exist in the UK, just not so obviously.

i was in southeast maybe thats y i never came across a racist person :p
but i have heard its a different story up north

rudeboy
Im sorry u had to face these situations but u can't build ur entire views on locals from those u met in the immigration.

i have many expat friends .and i mean real friends..more than family.. different nationalities and different colors..i'm very disturb and upset readin all the posts here i called my friends and asked their views of Dubai do they feel discriminated against they said no..they added some of the luxury they have here couldn't dream of it back home and they feel this is their home..

my expat friends were living in uk they r black moved to Dubai recently according to them "yes there is racisms in Uk" but this is not my concern im sure they went through some bad experience but this shouldn't be generalized there nor here.

com'n Dubai is not that bad..we (local) r not that bad.

mema wrote:rudeboy
Im sorry u had to face these situations but u can't build ur entire views on locals from those u met in the immigration.

i have many expat friends .and i mean real friends..more than family.. different nationalities and different colors..i'm very disturb and upset readin all the posts here i called my friends and asked their views of Dubai do they feel discriminated against they said no..they added some of the luxury they have here couldn't dream of it back home and they feel this is their home..

my expat friends were living in uk they r black moved to Dubai recently according to them "yes there is racisms in Uk" but this is not my concern im sure they went through some bad experience but this shouldn't be generalized there nor here.

com'n Dubai is not that bad..we (local) r not that bad.

Once again, i find myself sticking up for rudeboy.

He was only speaking of his experiences, just like your friends told you theirs.

mema wrote:they added some of the luxury they have here couldn't dream of it back home and they feel this is their home..

even though you prob have good intentions, its suggesting two wrongs make a right. and unfortunately some people exploit that....

my basic point is, as Kanelli mentioned earlier, that Dubai has a terrible almost class system.

In UK or Sweden if you are Asian, and went into a restaurant, and some Europeans followed later, and then some locals came in.
The Asian would be served first, then the Europeans, then the Locals.

In Dubai, with the same scenario, the LOCAL would get served first, the European second and the Asian last, even though they entered first.

its everyday issues like that which make Racism... my friend who is of Asian Origin, was adressed as a "Miskeen" at the Airport - even though he was born and bread in the UK!
He has to pay entry fee's when on his own or with other asians in bars, he pays nothing when with Europeans, gets served near to last while in restaurants. These are day to day issues and happens to many. Some people dnt make a big deal of it.... but that only allows it to continue.

The UK has problems. So does Sweden. But in Sweden and UK staff get fired easily if there are complaints of discrimination in all sectors. How often does that happen in Dubai, when a local is concerned?

Rvp legend

I totally understand where you coming from, we never said there is no racism in the UK, because human are human and can be mean if they chose to BUT you will not see any law that encourage racism.

sara_uk wrote:Rvp legend

I totally understand where you coming from, we never said there is no racism in the UK, because human are human and can be mean if they chose to BUT you will not see any law that encourage racism.

Sara_uk

quick whisper...im talking about Racist attitudes in Dubai... using the UK as a benchmark to improve it

rvp_legend wrote:

sara_uk wrote:Rvp legend

I totally understand where you coming from, we never said there is no racism in the UK, because human are human and can be mean if they chose to BUT you will not see any law that encourage racism.

Sara_uk

quick whisper...im talking about Racist attitudes in Dubai... using the UK as a benchmark to improve it

lets hope we could change somethn in our communities..even a small change can make a big difference.

rvp_legend wrote:

sara_uk wrote:Rvp legend

I totally understand where you coming from, we never said there is no racism in the UK, because human are human and can be mean if they chose to BUT you will not see any law that encourage racism.

Sara_uk

quick whisper...im talking about Racist attitudes in Dubai... using the UK as a benchmark to improve it

so what exactly does that have to do with Dubai again?

there are no laws here encouraging racisim...

also, like i said earlier, there are many cases that are filed that deal with racisim...so its not like people arent taking actions against it here.

bushra21 wrote:

rvp_legend wrote:

Bleakus wrote:dude, racism is everywhere, i was attacked by racist comments all the time when i was in UK, i doesnt matter where you are. You will see it in places more then others

Yes, it is everywhere...am not saying its not.

But the word you are looking for is Prejudice.

People have Prejudice towards the unknown entities in life. Which ultimately leads them to at times discriminate.

Racism is Prejudice, Discrimination and most importantly POWER.

If racism is prejudice, as you said, it is safe to conclude that bleakus was not looking for the word prejudice, when he in fact meant what he said when using the word racist/ism?

also, dubai is not the most racist place. go to america, i almost lost my life many a times at the hands of a moron, as did my family members and almost everyone we knew that didnt fit the 'us, american, mold'. so do not even go and tell me little old dubai is the MOST racist place...your wrong

In addition, CAIR received 141 reports of actual and potential violent anti-Muslim hate crimes, a 52 percent increase from the 93 reports received in 2003.

So you're claiming that you, your friends, and family members were actually attacked or threatened with violence on SEVERAL occassions?

valkyrie wrote:

bushra21 wrote:

rvp_legend wrote:

Bleakus wrote:dude, racism is everywhere, i was attacked by racist comments all the time when i was in UK, i doesnt matter where you are. You will see it in places more then others

Yes, it is everywhere...am not saying its not.

But the word you are looking for is Prejudice.

People have Prejudice towards the unknown entities in life. Which ultimately leads them to at times discriminate.

Racism is Prejudice, Discrimination and most importantly POWER.

If racism is prejudice, as you said, it is safe to conclude that bleakus was not looking for the word prejudice, when he in fact meant what he said when using the word racist/ism?

also, dubai is not the most racist place. go to america, i almost lost my life many a times at the hands of a moron, as did my family members and almost everyone we knew that didnt fit the 'us, american, mold'. so do not even go and tell me little old dubai is the MOST racist place...your wrong

In addition, CAIR received 141 reports of actual and potential violent anti-Muslim hate crimes, a 52 percent increase from the 93 reports received in 2003.

So you're claiming that you, your friends, and family members were actually attacked or threatened with violence on SEVERAL occassions?

my second cousin did

valkyrie wrote:

In addition, CAIR received 141 reports of actual and potential violent anti-Muslim hate crimes, a 52 percent increase from the 93 reports received in 2003.

So you're claiming that you, your friends, and family members were actually attacked or threatened with violence on SEVERAL occassions?

yes, yes i am...would you like me to list them for you? Because I will, I dont mind.

mema wrote:lets hope we could change somethn in our communities..even a small change can make a big difference.

Thats the answer i was looking for

bushra21 wrote:so what exactly does that have to do with Dubai again?

there are no laws here encouraging racisim...

also, like i said earlier, there are many cases that are filed that deal with racisim...so its not like people arent taking actions against it here.

Ok, accepted that there are no laws.

But there is definite profiling. Maybe a law needs to be introduced clearly banning profiling?

Please forward me links to sites which record racism in UAE, with some examples of cases won.

Thanks

bushra21 wrote:

valkyrie wrote:In addition, CAIR received 141 reports of actual and potential violent anti-Muslim hate crimes, a 52 percent increase from the 93 reports received in 2003.

So you're claiming that you, your friends, and family members were actually attacked or threatened with violence on SEVERAL occassions?

yes, yes i am...would you like me to list them for you? Because I will, I dont mind.

Thats the beauty of having a process which records these. People do not have to feel alone!

Bushra are you sure that those incidences of violence or threatened violence were indeed related to your skin colour or background, or just general violence that can happen in the US? My American friend was robbed at gunpoint once and by knifepoint once - and she's white. My British friend in Finland was recently attacked by Romany teenagers on the train. She is white too. If both of these ladies were purple, do you think that they should claim racism as the motivation for the attacks or do you think other factors are involved, like drug problems, poverty, and sub-cultures of people living outside of the general society?

For the Emiratis on this forum, this thread has gone off focus. At least in my view, it it incorrect to imply that Dubai is very racist because the Emiratis are racist. The majority of the population of this country comes from somewhere else - so it is everyone's problem. In fact, after listening to some of the Western people in Emirates Hills area when I'm out and about, I can see some of them becoming more racist the longer they live in Dubai. I can't believe some of the comments I have heard about other groups of people. Everyone is forming an "us and them"- the Westerners, Asians, Arabs - everyone! I don't want to be a part of that.

kanelli wrote:Bushra are you sure that those incidences of violence or threatened violence were indeed related to your skin colour or background, or just general violence that can happen in the US? My American friend was robbed at gunpoint once and by knifepoint once - and she's white. My British friend in Finland was recently attacked by Romany teenagers on the train. She is white too. If both of these ladies were purple, do you think that they should claim racism as the motivation for the attacks or do you think other factors are involved, like drug problems, poverty, and sub-cultures of people living outside of the general society?

yes, im sure -- at least with my experiences.

when you go to an all caucasion school, and have your life threatened every single day and are told that your a filthy sand nigger, ignorant arab, camel lover, and so on....it would cause you to believe that its because im an arab, thats why they are treating me this way.

when you go to report a crime of abuse to the police and they tell you -- in your face, well did you threaten them, calls you a filthy arab and says what you got is what you deserved....it would cause you to believe that its because your an arab, and that is wy they are treating you that way.

when you are driving your car across the bridge and some guy sees you, yells at you (go to hell you god damn terrorist) and tries to run you off the bridge....it would cause you to believe that its because your an arab.

when people threaten to bomb your house, when your neighbors have made it clear that they dont want in their words, your kind, living there...thats what you would suspect.

when all three cars are smashed to pieces outside of your house, when the same thing is said, your kind doesnt belong here,....thats what you would suspect.

these are just a few examples. so if i came a bit hard on the us, then im sorry, but when people say that dubai is such a horrible place to live...and yet those people are still living here, it just angers me so much.

Well Bushra, you have had other Arabs and non-whites in this thread saying they did not face much racism if any while living in the States. So there are likely more factors involved. I just can't believe so much could happen unprovoked. Either that, you were indeed living in the most racist village in some backwater in the US. Did all this happen in 2001, right after Sept. 11?

no. this started ever since my family had moved there. thankfully i didnt live there my entire life..but whatever, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger.

the area has gotten better though in the past two years, it was, when we first lived there a completley red neck type of ,i dont even want to say city, town

now though there are more races, asians, arabs, hispanics, so its gotten better -- more tolerant.

before though we were the only family that were not 'white' so, thats why we had it even tougher.

the bridge incident, and the house/cars happened after 11 september.

i have to say though, well, at least make it more clear. some of the places that i lived i experienced no racisim at all, im not saying every westerner is racist, i probably came off a bit harsh on them in this thread..i didnt mean to, but like i said, when i heard people saying how locals and dubai is so racist, the most racist, i let my emotions get the best of me.

So in the end you are indeed talking about only one town you lived in, and you acknowledge that you were the only non-white family living there. I would say that probably explains things. In your previous post you made it sound like you were living all over the States and faced serious abuse everywhere you lived. You should try to be clear. It makes a huge difference to say that one town in the US is the most racist place you have lived, instead of saying that the entire USA is the most racist place you have lived.

Notice how I say that Dubai is the most racist place I have lived? I don't say the whole UAE, or the entire Middle East...

bushra21 wrote:these are just a few examples. so if i came a bit hard on the us, then im sorry, but when people say that dubai is such a horrible place to live...and yet those people are still living here, it just angers me so much.

Bushra
sorry to hear that you have experienced these things. And there is no reason not to believe you.

But we all know, that Just because one place is a happy home for one, doesnt mean it is for the others.
For example, even if Dubai has provided you safe sanctuary from all the horrid things and meant you dont have to be called horrid names on a daily basis... the same may not be for other races.

An Indian or Pakistani can and is often known to be called a slave, be made to work like slaves and only work for food. At times they cannot change jobs due to their passports being controlled by their employers. they have been known o get beaten.
A White lady can be called a whore even if she holds a very respectable position.

So no one is saying that Dubai is the worst place, but the problem does exist.... but too often hidden under the carpet.

The difference is, you have Bodies in US coming out and talking about the Rise in Anti Muslim violence in the States. How often do you hear about the goverment tackling discrimination and bad working conditions for some in the UAE?