I don't know why they stopped us...probably because we don't "match up". I had to do everything in my power to keep my mouth shut...so I just glared...cursing him in my head, and Roland is looking at me and slowly shaking his head like...don't go there, don't go there. Of course...I didn't go there...but I gave him the Stank Eye.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Inter-Racial Profiling
Well...it was bound to happen sooner or later. Tonight while in Al-Khobar I was officially Muttawanized. Yes...we were stopped by the Muttawa; aka the religious police; aka the The Commission For The Propogation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice; aka The Biggest C-Blockers Ever!!
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What did they do/say?
I hope they weren't too rude.
He didn't say why he stopped us. He wanted to know if we were married. I showed him the ring, and he kept pushing to fingers together (i'm assuming he was asking if we were married). He asked me if I spoke Arabic...at which point I stated, "no, I'm American". And then he was like ok...and walked off.
I was never stopped by a Muttawa in all my years of living in Saudi Arabia. I must look holy and pure! I was stalked by a weirdo once but I don't think he was religious, just weird and rapey. I escaped so it's all good.
You might have more problems, being non-white, as Muttawas might think it's possible you're a Saudi. My Iranian friend used to not only wear an abiya but cover her hair when she went to Khobar, because she could have been taken for a Saudi, and therefore attracted more attention with her hair uncovered.
In the broad scheme of things this doesn't sound too bad. Proof of marriage is often requested in Muslim countries not just Saudi, especially if there is some reason to wonder about your status. My best guess is that it was assumed you were a "black Saudi" and since Saudi women marrying non-Saudis and especially non-Muslims you were questioned. Americani? makem mooshkin (American, no problem) :-)
Welcome to Saudi :)
You have experienced part of the Saudi culture. Religious police do have some good activities but overall a lot of people don't like them (That is not to say most, no exact idea on how popular they are.it is different from 1 part of Saudi to another)The reason is what you just experienced they just come up to you for no apparent reason and without you doing anything wrong and bug you. Once one of them asked me to get a haircut. He was very polite but just the concept of a stranger coming up to me and asking me this is pretty annoying.
Yes...chiara...i'm aware of what happens in Muslim countries. LOL. Are you (1) a teacher or (2) the student who is always raising their hands to show the teacher how hard they studied. LOL :)
Hell Freak (Gawd...I love that name). Yes...I felt like it was the official welcome. Seriously. Believe me...this will make it into the documentary. This guy wasn't rude...but just the thought of him stopping me...I looked at him like, "how dare you even talk to me" (you know...that bitchy look girls give guys who are unworthy of even looking at them) LOL, and his little minion who was with him was smiling like a freakin moron. This minion was dark skinned, looked black. Which is why I wonder if this is why they stopped us...inter-racial profiling.
Honestly, at first...I was pretty insulted...just the fact that they stopped us implied to me they thought I could be a whore. I was wearing the freakin ninja dress!! I tell you...my friends back home were tripping. They were like...see..Terri's already causing trouble. I swear...I wasn't. LOL. One friend was even "scared" for me. BTW: I will NEVER think the Muttawa serve any good. Ex-cons trying to watch my behavior...puleese.
been there done that. They followed me and Mr. Man to Jarirs on the corniche as we came out of Chillis. Wanted proof we were married.. white chicks don't marry down to black men and well I guess in your case niether do white guys :) so that is all the reason the mutawwa needs a thought one isn't married to want proof. Mr. Man used to get it when he was out with his sisters too and nieces as the color in the family ranges from nearly white as me to darker than my husband.
Yea...it's pretty stupid. It must be all that inbreeding. LOL. I mean really...it's like the store detective watching the black folks...while the white folks are stealing shit. They need to focus on their own people, that's were 95% of the violations are probably coming from. It's not the westerners flocking to Bahrain to get laid.
Or...maybe it's just a way to justify their existence. You know...kinda like job security.
you guys have it good, the moment you say American...they would not even touch you with a barge-pole, they are shit scared of you folks, but Asians like me ( although i/my family have not been confronted by one in all of the 2 yrs that I have been here) are targetted by these 'losers'. Their job description states "harass" all and sundry in bold i guess
Deep: that's the reason I carry my passport with me and I have a copy of my husbands. Sometimes, it's embarrassing to be American (like over the past 8 years with the asshole in office). But...there are many benefits this apparently being one of them. However, I know the Saudi's treat the Asians badly, I've heard horror stories and how on the camps the asians want to/hope to work for expats versus the Saudi's. I hope you're in a good space.
Hay... Not all Saudis are like that. It would lying to my self before you guys if I didn't acknowledge that there are Saudi's out there who miss treat Asians but defiantly not all do.
Hi Terry,
I've been reading your blog and I think you're hilarious! I remember when I first moved to Saudi, it was a culture shock for me and I'm actually Saudi! Hang in there, it gets better with time.
By the way, I work in Aramco. If you're interested in meeting up for lunch at the camp, I'd be delighted.
P.S. I see you're interested in filmmaking, Aramco has a Media Production Division and I know they're desperate to hire people. If you're married to an Aramcon, you can try working there as a Casual.
Hell Freakin'
Of Course. All Saudi's aren't like that. All of any group isn't every stereotype. But, you stated yourself (when you commented on my Equal Opportunity Racist post)...that you believe some stereotypes to be true. See...no one wants the negative stereotypes about their group to be true...but they want to believe some about others. And, most stereotypes are hurtful...they're not about whether someone likes spicy food or not.
This guys stopped us probably due to racial profiling, and based on some stereotype in his head (i.e. why would a white man marry a black woman). I've been told that interracial couples are harassed regularly by these "you know whats".
Hello Jo, thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Yes...I'm definitely interested in Filmmaking, and my husband is an Aramcon. However, I'm extremely leery about working over here, for a variety of reasons, I think it's best I steer clear of too much official interaction.
BTW: I'd love to be able to read your blog. :)
Well I don't know about interracial couples, but since we are talking about the religious police, there was a Saudi comedy show that made fun of them showing them stopping a couple (Saudi) just because they looked happy together and married couple should not be happy :) They stop anyone they suspect and (as you might or might not already know) some Saudi ladies do not have IDs and even if they did they will not uncover there faces for the police so how do they check if she is the guy's wife or not? by separating them and asking them what color is your fridge or what is your house keeper's name and check if they mach
Can of reminds me of a game show program but I can't remember the name:-P
Help me out pps
YAAY
a new weekend starts with new potential and extra sleeping hours :-)
Time to go home.
Hell Freak.. Have a Wonderful Freakin Weekend. I'm still getting used to that one. So...in my mind...there is still 2 weekends...the Thursday Friday, and then the Saturday Sunday.
Highly qualified, intellectually curious, and interested in the respectful sharing of ideas.
I was wondering, given your knowledge of Islam and Saudi, why you would move there, and then feel so insulted by a rather standard, polite, and innocuous Muttawa check which your interracial relationship was almost guaranteed to invite (fairly or not--I am also in an interracial marriage as defined by some and have experienced extra police checks), but you've made it clear in your comments that you are there "for the money" and enjoy "causing trouble" everywhere, so nothing surprising for you or me in that. :-)
I leave it to the Saudi-based commentors to consider the risks of being "a Big-Mouthed, Opinionated, Black-American woman" in Saudi. Your husband seems to help you have the right responses, in my humble experience of Islam/racism (in multiple versions in multiple countries). :-)
Good luck! (no sarcasm intended)
Chiara...good for you. I only asked because your responses are so long, and "informative" in an infomercial type of way.
For one...I never said I like to cause trouble...my nephew jokingly made the comment about me, when I stated I was stopped. Since I've been here I've complied with what is expected (i.e. I wear the stupid ninja dress whenever I'm out). Secondly...I had fully expected to be stopped...which I have also mentioned, and I have the right to express what I think about said stop. Thirdly...with anything in life there is a certain amount of bullshit you have to put up with. As a project manager at Boeing (the job I left to come here to be with my husband), they expected me to act and behave in a certain way...so I'm not immune to "acting right".
The bottom line is (in my not so humble opinion)...regardless of how "not rude" this guy was...the idea of the Muttawa is stupid. You're reading a small portion of what my life is here. This blog was designed so that I can keep track of key events and my feelings about them; so that when I put together all my footage, I can go back to this blog to get ideas for the script.
With your intellectual curiosity, one would think you would know that regardless of where a person moves to...a person will experience culture shock. Which is where I'm at; I'm squarely in Act 2. I've been here 2 freakin weeks. If I had moved to some wonderful place in Europe...it would be expected that I would still experience culture shock. And, when I was living in Europe (Stockholm) I did, but I got through it as I will here. But don't act like this is the Magic Kingdom.
Hopefully, this takes care of your curiosity as to why I'm here.
Have a Great Day!! (not meant to be facetious)
Hell(o) Freak...Thank You!! You made me laugh. Because really...how would they know? I don't know And, really it is comedic.
I get emails from people who are taking the shit I post way too seriously. Because really if this were going to be a movie, versus a documentary...it would DEFINITELY be a comedy. Maybe I should turn it into a movie. LOL.
Hope you're enjoying the start to your weekend!
Really enjoyed reading the post and its comments. In Saudi Arabia, there is hardly any discrimination based on skin colour. Having lived there 18 years and then moving to the UK, I really can feel how much of a difference it makes to be discriminated on the basis of skin-colour.
Hope your future encounters (if any; lets hope not) with the Mutawwa will be as good as this one. They have been criticism lately. But then all I can say is that there are good ones and bad ones as well. So stay safe :)
The reason he didn't acknowledge the ring was because Saudi's don't have wedding rings.
It's nice to know he didn't harass you or get all angry and stuff.
Police usually don't bother americans, they get in a lot of trouble for that.
Hish- In Saudi Arabia, there is hardly any discrimination based on skin colour.>>>
I almost chocked reading this partly because I think your serious. My husband who was born and raised in Saudi and has saudi running through his viens is also black and discrimination he has recieved on one to many occassions in Saudi. Moreso than the states, I mean in the states it isn't ok to be a racist who openly acts that way in the public sphere (jobs, service, ect) but in Saudi my goodness it is not only ok, people rationalize it like all is ok with whiteness and these people aren't even flippen white. Which bothers so much that they use find ways to whiten themselves .. between creams, failure to go in the sun cause they might get brown, to skin tone preferences in marriage, to skin peeling (that has to be the nastiest) and even out right preferential treatment to the lighter kids in the family.. and I'm talking from parents here.
discriminiation/racism/skin preference runs deep here. And unlike western countries there are no laws to actually prevent it, acknowledge it nor correct it.
A fear of mine when we move over is not so much me but my very opiniated Daughter. She is 15 and excited about going other than the Abaya part ( individuality is a priority ). I too think the Muttawa ( I know I mispelled that one are fearing) as you never know if one of them had a really bad day. However I also know that My husband will cover for us but still sucks that I could not cal his bluff. so coming over I think I will do my blog as White Chick in Saudi lol.. just kidding . We still don't know where we will be living but I will find out sooner than later but I enjoy reading this because its easing some fears / but note I have already lived in several countries ( singapore, germany, Indonesia, Malaysia.) so I am not too fearful.
Kerley.. feel free to be White Chick in Saudi. LOL. Yea...the encounter wasn't that bad...it's just the point. Which some just don't seem to get...but whatever. You sound like you'll be ok, but it is an adjustment. This society/culture is diametrically the opposite of ours, in almost every way. I've lived in Stockholm for a little over a year...and I have traveled (to other countries), and continue to travel extensively. So...most of what you read is just me, "talking shit". Why...because I can. =)
Terri, Muttawa system is sick. And they are not always polite or leave you alone. I am sure you know that. My husband was once looking for a mosque in Riyadh and he was literally dragged to one by the crazy loons because he was taking too long to find one. In the mosque they were hitting a man on his legs with a cane for not praying. He said he wasn't Muslim so the muttawa asked his name and the man said, "Ram" and the muttawa said, "Yes, you are Muslim. Now pray!" My husband said he saw the poor man do the actions and then get out of the place as fast as he could. What was the purpose of all of this?
Now of course, things are different when they want to check if a couple is married or if they are 'fornicating' but that is definitely insulting. I agree with you.
I think you got off well from your first muttawa experience! Both from the point of being let off almost immediately, and your admirable strength of self control!!!
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