Mixed feelings

[nativeinformant]

So, a week from now I will be sitting in my cramped BA seat and drinking as many free bad cocktails as possible -- on my way to Dubai! It was such a wonderful and awful year living there last year, both at the same time. And I feel like I was such a different person there than I am at home (and have become such a different person for having had the

Comments

[nativeinformant]

I'd say you of all people are doing a lot to make people aware of these issues and to change them. I get so annoyed at those who post on your blog and make it seem like speaking out is just another form of Western chauvanism, etc. And it is not just Western expats, it is all middle and upper class expats that are part of this system. I can't tell you how many Indian biz people I spoke to while I was in Dubai who repeated all those same lines you quoted above, about the fact that they were exploiting their own people (sometimes from their own villages or even extended families!). My big point that I am trying to explore academically is that a state (esp a small one like the UAE with actually a very limited military and police force) cannot keep this kind of segregated system going on its own. It actually requires the complicity of expatriates in order to maintain the social and legal divisions that are there. BTW, speaking of change, which I do think is occurring, and as you know I think blogging is a part of, can wee finally do that interview if you're in town when I get there? I'll be there June 25 to July 3.

[mcgillianaire]

>It actually requires the complicity of expatriates in order to maintain the social and legal divisions that are there.
Good point!

Really interesting discussion and post. I can totally understand where you're coming from: I'm an Indian who grew up in Oman but studied in an international school (read: Western) and has spent the last five years in the West. I grew up just accepting all the divisions (West v non-Western labour, white-collar Indians v blue-collar Indians etc) as "the ways things are". As I got older I found myself in a weird situation where the non-Western students in my school, generally refused to identify themselves with their non-Western heritage because the majority of the Western kids, looked upon their non-Western peers as inferior. In hindsight, I think this belief was reinforced by the social and legal disparities that existed in Oman (and the rest of the Gulf). I doubt however, the majority of these Western kids would've looked upon their non-Western peers the exact same way back 'home'. That said, and like you pointed out, xenophobia and racism does still exist, though in a much more muted and discrete form, in the West. Even in my high school, there were a couple kids who were simply racist. Exceptions exist everywhere.

I found myself in a weird position because internally, I was proud of my Indian identity but externally, I gave into the peer pressure and presented myself as either a Westernized Indian, or simply, Western. Despite that reassurance, I always knew the majority of the Western kids (many of whom were children of parents working for rich oil companies) looked down upon me, consciously and subconsciously. I know such attitudes still persist in my school and it's a pity because these same kids will become parents one day and fairly likely, move to live in the Middle East. They will probably share the same views of non-Westerners as they did in school and pass on the complicity to their children.

I think there is an irony in all of this. People may assume that those who have lived abroad are more open minded than those who haven't. Nuh-uh. My experiences as an international school student, particularly one who grew up in the Middle East, have illustrated to me the narrow-mindedness that is widespread. The Western societies that many of these Western expats have come from are becoming much more multicultural than it was when the expats used to live in them, and in many instances, have removed the layers of ignorance. They don't just treat people equally, but they see them as being equal as well. But the Western expat? Nah. They go on living in this time warp that reflects more accurately the realities of the pre-Cold War when Britain ruled the seas and banned Indians from entering their posh clubs and so forth. And unfortunately, as you pointed out above, they reinforce these outdated mentalities and become complicit in maintaining the social and legal disparities in Gulf society.

(I had more to say, but I think I'll leave it at that. Sorry for the rant).

[nativeinformant]

Not a rant at all. In fact, I found it very interesting. I interviewed a bunch of born-and-raised-in-Dubai Indians during my fieldwork, and found a lot of similarities to what you say. The inbred sense of being a "second-class citizen" compared to Westerners was expressed by a lot of people (of course they are not citizens at all and can never be either).

I got the sense that it was only after they went to university (whether it was in the West or in the Gulf) that they started seeing the place they grew up in differently. Of course this is a broad generalization of my data. My interviewees were very different and varied a lot in what they said as well.

The one thing that I find so interesting, especially in relation to my own experiences being a second-generation Indian in the US, is that, unlike immigrant kids here, everyone in Dubai identified as Indian and did not relate any kind of identity crisis in the same way as me and my friends experienced it. I spent my whole childhood being embarrassed of my Indian identity, my brown skin, my parents' accents, the way our house smelled of Indian food, etc. The people I interviewed in Dubai did not relate these feelings but rather were comfortable with their Indianness in ways that I was not growing up.

I'm still trying to sort all this stuff out, but definitely very interested in the role that citizenship and discrimination play in people's experiences of growing up and their sense of belonging. Also, I think the fact that South Asians are so prevalent in the Gulf makes a big difference, and is a positive as well as a negative.

[nativeinformant]

"The one thing that I find so interesting, especially in relation to my own experiences being a second-generation Indian in the US, is that, unlike immigrant kids here, everyone in Dubai identified as Indian and did not relate any kind of identity crisis in the same way as me and my friends experienced it."

I beg to differ on that one - simply because I do not relate to an everyday Indian (from India) i.e. his ways or working, thought process etc all - even though I am a second generation UAE offspring.

I think there certainly is a difference from an Indian raised in India and an Indian raised in the UAE - perhaps far less compared to someone raised in the US.

Neat journal btw :)

rosh

[nativeinformant]

Hi Rosh,

I agree with you - Indians in Dubai did relate a difference from Indians in India, definitely. What I was getting at was that they did not in any way consider themselves Emirati, or anything but Indian in terms of their national or ethnic identity, unlike desis here in the states who feel like we are in between "Indian" and "American" identities. I hope that clarifies.