Racism as I see it in Morocco

First, thanks to Jillian for your kind words. It's nice to hear that. I hope you don't change your mind after reading this next post. Let me reiterate the point that I've made in other posts: my experience is mostly from my village; it's not representative of Morocco as a whole.

Racism as I see it in Morocco

Before I get into this topic, a couple qualifiers. First, this is what I’ve witnessed; it doesn’t apply to all Moroccans. It would be pretty hypocritical to say, “All Moroccans are racist in this way.” Given that I live in one of the least educated, least cosmopolitan regions in the country, it’s likely that I witness stronger attitudes. Also, I apologize for any under or misrepresenting that I have done. It’s important to take my position as a white male into account when reading this post; obviously my perspective is different than a person of different race. Finally, this is a touchy issue; there’s no way to write it that reflects well on anyone. Same for America; if you wrote a history of racism in America, it would not be pretty.

There is a lot of racial tension between Arabs and Berbers (although I use the word Berber in this essay, Amazigh is the word that Berbers call themselves. Berber is the name that the Romans used, meaning barbarians). Berbers have been in Morocco for thousands of years, whereas Arabs came to the country starting in the 9th century A.D. There is a history of conflict between the two groups, with Arabs being the dominant side. As I experience it, most people identify their ethnicity (Arab or Berber) by the language that their parents speak, but the truth is much more complicated. Although Arabic is the dominant language in Morocco, some 70-90% of Moroccans have Berber blood in them. But it is rare to meet an Arabic speaker who identifies as ethnically Berber. I have experienced negative attitudes towards Berbers amongst Arabs. When I first started traveling in this country, I was excited to tell other Moroccans who I met that I spoke Berber. Surprisingly, this elicited negative reactions from a lot of people; now I only tell certain people in certain cities that I speak Berber. Several Arabic speakers have told me, “Berber is like Chinese to me.” Others question why I learn the language; they say that Arabic is the only worthwhile language in Morocco. I’ve been told that Berbers are stupid, backwards, and uneducated. One man told me that before Islam came to Morocco and saved the Berbers, they were subhuman. Provinces that are traditionally strong Berber regions (Khenifra, my province and the Rif) were neglected under the previous King, although this trend has reversed somewhat under the current King. Berber-speaking children are taught in Arabic by teachers that do not even speak Berber. On the other hand, there are plenty of Arabic speaking Moroccans that get along just fine with Berbers. Mostly the tension between the two groups is a small issue. I have even met people who have taught themselves Berber because they were interested in the history and culture of the country. And the negative attitudes do not run just one way, either. Just this week, in my site, a couple of young men were telling me how dangerous Arabs are and that I need to be careful when I travel amongst Arabs. In fact people say that quite a lot in my site.

I believe that Jews are the most hated ethnic group in Morocco. Historically, there used to be a large Jewish presence in Morocco. Many cities have a “mellah,” which was the Jewish section. However, more recently negative attitudes have become the norm. Hatred towards Jews is open and not apologized for. In my town, the Berber word for a Jew, Uday, is used as an insult. One time in a large group I told people not to say bad things about Jews, that it is racism. They asked me why I was defending Jews, was I a Jew? I tutor a local girl in English and I was asking her about racism in Morocco. I asked her why Moroccans are racist towards Jews. She said that it wasn’t racism. She said Moroccans don’t like Jews because they are dangerous and sneaky. During Peace Corps training, Jewish volunteers are encouraged by Moroccan staff to keep their ethnic identity a secret because “coming out” could irreparably damage their community’s perception of them. Although Moses is accepted by Muslims as a prophet and the “old” testament is a part of the Islamic canon, there is a passage in the Koran that vilifies Jews and Pagans (I wish I could find exact passage, sorry). I’ve met one person who professed not to hate Jews. We were having a discussion about the political situation in Israel/Palestine and he was being pretty unfair against Israel. He said that, even though he was criticizing Israel, he wasn’t racist; he had “lots of Jewish friends.”

Black people are the target of a less vehement sort of racism. There are a couple of darker men in my site and they are often jokingly, disparagingly teased as being black. One adjective for black is sometimes used to mean “bad.” My host family and I were talking about racism and they asked me if I held racist feelings against blacks. I said no. They asked if I would marry a black person. I said yes. They said that they weren’t racist, but that they would never let one of their family members marry a black person. Lighter skin is seen as being more beautiful. An older Moroccan woman said to me, “I’m ugly. Look at my skin: it’s black!”

Other ethnic groups are also the target of racism. East and South Asians come to mind. There are a couple volunteers of East Asian descent that are teased. Young men in my site will pull their eyes tight if we’re talking about China.

I believe that some Moroccans have racist attitudes towards Moroccans. I know this sounds strange, but a recent experience with another volunteer who (sort of) appears Moroccan solidified my opinion. This racism against Moroccans is felt most strongly by Moroccan women. Another way to state this attitude would be to say that sexist attitudes are common in Morocco and that they are directed most harshly and frequently at Moroccan women. If a woman appears Moroccan, different dress and behavior is expected of her. White female volunteers certainly receive harassment, but with my limited experience I would argue that it is of a different sort. Because of her appearance, the volunteer who (sort of) appears Moroccan was held to the standard expected of Moroccan women, exposing the double standard. Dressed conservatively by American standards, but with her hair uncovered, the volunteer received lots of vulgar sexual harassment from Moroccans – harassment that a white woman would probably not get in the same situation. Swimming in the ocean, the volunteer received vulgar invitations that a white volunteer probably would not receive in the same situation. In her site, the volunteer was assaulted in public, in plain view of several people. When asked, after the fact, why they didn’t come to her assistance, the people said, “Because she looked Moroccan.” The volunteer speaks Arabic well, making it easier to confuse her as Moroccan. She says that she sometimes intentionally makes mistakes so that people will be more likely to perceive her as American. I’ve heard of Moroccan looking male volunteers receiving milder harassment such as bars refusing to serve them alcohol, but primarily this racism affects women. A Moroccan certainly wouldn’t call this racism; they might say that white women are given more freedom because they aren’t Muslim. But if people are making a judgment about an individual because of their (perceived) membership of a racial group, that’s racism. Another example: in my site, the women from out of town (the teachers, nurses, and doctor) dress conservatively. It is expected of them. Female volunteers have come to visit me and they don’t cover their hair and don’t dress as conservatively as the Moroccan women. They have never received any harassment. There is a different standard for them. If this volunteer who (sort of) appears Moroccan came to my site, I would worry that men in my site might harass her.

Finally, it would be terribly unfair to talk about racism in Morocco without discussing racist attitudes held by foreigners towards Moroccans. The histories of French and Spanish colonialism in Morocco are one of condescending paternalism and harsh suppression. Today, tourists treat Moroccan customs as exotic, queer curiosities to wonder and gawk at. I’ve heard some virulent, disdainful comments about Moroccans cleanliness and hygiene. Worse than the tourists, however, are the foreigners who live in Morocco and make terrible generalizations about Moroccans. Peace Corps volunteers, unfortunately, express some racist attitudes. You would think that living with Moroccans would improve volunteers’ ability to make distinctions between individuals within a group, but I think living here has increased racism amongst volunteers. “Moroccans are … stupid, unclean, sexist, dogmatic, lazy, etc.” If one were to substitute the word “Moroccans” for another group such as “blacks” or “Jews,” the statement would become unpalatable for the very person who uttered it. Yet volunteers make these sort of statements without batting an eye. I don’t want to hold myself up on a pedestal on this issue; I’m guilty of making sweeping generalizations as well.

So what to make of this? What I’ve written is kind of depressing. It calls into question the Peace Corps mission of increasing world friendship if Americans living in other countries increases animosity and misunderstanding. For the most part, PC volunteers are liberal do-gooders who had bought into the “world friendship” thing before they came over, making their conversion into bitter people all the more unfortunate. There are volunteers who have had negative experiences who will leave the country with a bad taste in their mouths. It’s sad to see. I argue, however, that good outweighs the bad. Personally, I’ve had some negative experiences, but I hope that readers of my blog recognize that my time here in Morocco has been overwhelmingly positive. I hold some negative opinions of Moroccan culture, but mostly the exchange between cultures has been good. I think that most volunteers would agree.

Update
It’s Ramadan. For those unaware, Ramadan is the month that the Quran was revealed to the prophet Mohamed. It is a holy month in the Islamic calendar (the calendar is lunar, so Ramadan moves forward a little every year). Good Muslims should abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, sex, speaking bad words, having bad thoughts from sunup to sundown for the entire month. Sunup is the time when you can distinguish a black thread from a white one, meaning that is still dark – 4:15 am this morning in Morocco. Sundown is the setting of the sun, not darkness – 7:00 pm last night.

For me, Ramadan is a time of stomach pain and unhealthy eating patterns. I feel uncomfortably hungry for most of the afternoon. When I break fast, I normally gorge my shrunken stomach to the point where I am uncomfortably full for most of the night. Most people in my village eat two or three meals a day during Ramadan: break fast, dinner, and a meal at 3:30 am before the sunrises. I’m always too full to eat dinner and I don’t like waking up at 3 to eat and fall back to sleep on a full stomach, so I pretty much eat one meal a day.

The best part about Ramadan is that I get invited over to lots of people’s houses to break fast. Each house has slightly different food and it’s mostly all delicious. Thursday night I went over to one of my friend’s house for break fast and I ate a lot. I’m quite fond of his wife’s food. My stomach was feeling uncomfortably full. I went to my host family’s afterwards to say hi and my host mom gave me a bunch of grief about not coming to their house to break fast. She said that she had made extra food just for me and it was going to go bad. She asked me to have a piece of buchiya, a flat bread cooked on a skillet. My host mom’s buchiya is my favorite; she prepares it with large amounts of fresh, melted cow butter. So I said yes. After I finished eating, I really thought my stomach might burst. I told them how I was feeling and they taught me a Berber saying: “Cchigh s alln.” It means, “I ate with my eyes [and not my stomach].” It seemed very appropriate.

Things are good. Everything is slow during Ramadan. Work doesn’t happen as quickly, but I’m moving forward on a couple of projects. For our hammam project, it looks like a hammam is going to buy one of the stoves that we were “selling,” so that’s a very positive outcome. I might partner with the volunteer that I worked on the hammam project with to do a household stove conversion project. Mostly though, I lay around my house, reading and writing. I go out and hang out with people for a couple hours every day to pass the time. This year, a friend and I have taken to riding our bicycles to a nearby spring 30 minutes away in the couple hours right before break fast. It’s a good way to pass what is normally the hardest part of the fast.