After several racist events such as the most recent death of the American George Floyd at the beginning of this year by a white police officer in Minneapolis, people start realizing that they should be more aware of their racism. I had never seen a discussion about Race and Racism in the Arab world, and now I see people warning each other. Furthermore, The Black Lives Matter protests have set off discussions on racism toward Blacks in the Arab and Muslim world.
Black Arabs in the Middle East are descendants of sub-Saharan Africans and are often subject to racism and pejorative media representations. Arab blacks suffer double discrimination, they suffer prejudice for being black and also for being Arab. You turn on the TV and see Black Arabs playing roles of prostitutes or slaves. Therefore, activists are trying to change attitudes towards skin color in their societies. They want to draw attention to the prejudice and racial abuse experienced in their daily lives in a region where we see people denying the existence of this problem.
Moreover, black women are forced to straighten their hair, get rid of curls and lighten their skin to be accepted in their society, and to fit the beauty ideals. However, now I see many Arabic women reacting to the persistent discrimination and beauty standards stipulated in the middle east, such as Black Arabs Collective, which is an Instagram page to amplify the voices of Black Arabs.
I have seen several ads for whitening facial cream circulating on the internet, but I didn’t know it was so close to our reality. In our discussion on Wednesday, I remember talking about this issue with my peers, and they told me that these products are sold in Qatar and can be found in many supermarkets. As we can see in the examples below, these ads show women getting happier while their faces became brighter and lighter. I think these ads are extremely problematic. It is so damaging and makes them think that their skin color is ugly, and will only look better if it gets lighter.
Retrieved from:
https://m.vova.com/en/Touch-Of-White-Skin-Bleaching-Cream-Snow-Whitening-Cream-Whole-Body-GSN1594796464218217167741982-g19304485-m20770218
Retrieved from:
http://mobsea.com/Precautions-while-using-Bleaching/Allergic-Reaction-to-Skin-Bleach
Retrieved from: https://www.bestcreamtips.com/skin-lightening-cream/
According to a news article from Al Jazeera, these products are also sold by L’Oreal and Procter & Gamble (P&G), which are two renowned brands. Johnson & Johnson was also selling skin-whitening creams, but stopped selling these products in Asia and the Middle East after the rebound.
Where does this discrimination and beauty standards come from?
When the Middle East was colonized by Europe, the colonizers created this racial hierarchy where the white European people would have cultural, economic, ethical and moral superiority over other people. Moreover, by degrading and dehumanizing others, they feel that they can demonstrate their superiority over black people. The colonizers considered European features to be the standard for beauty – long and straight nose, almond shaped eyes, blue and green eyes, light skin and hair. Meanwhile, they imposed that local features are ugly and boring – flat and wide nose, black and brown eyes, dark skin and curly hair.
Overall, I don’t think there are government initiatives in the Arab world to fight anti-black discrimination. Furthermore, economic prejudices also happen against migrant workers from poorer nations in Africa and Asia, such as Sri Lanka. Therefore, Black Arabs must continue to fight for their rights and against racial discrimination and beauty standards.
Sources:
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/6/25/unilever-drops-fair-from-fair-lovely-skin-lightening-cream
https://www.instagram.com/blackarabscollective/