OpEdNews - Page 3 of Article: More Things to Learn and Ponder from Kuwait

At that dinner, I imagine that she is speaking of either a northern, central or western European—read German, Dutch, Scandinavian, French or British national. I know that these former imperial states have citizens who should have been educated well enough since 1945 to not look at the world—nor speak of the world—in such a colonial manner.

(That is, I don’t automatically think of criticizing eastern or southern Europeans, who did not have nearly the large sprawling colonial booms in the 19th and early 20th century, i.e. as experienced by the British, French and other European colonial states. In short, my bias is that I don’t expect better from the Slavic, Mediterranean or other Eastern European peoples. So, I know I am a bit racist.)

Etheridge concludes her piece by pointing out how the TCN label just reveals our Western hypocrisies: “These labels pretend to tell us all we need to know about someone. In reality, they simply indicate what salary a person is likely to make and whether or not we want to mix with him. It's about economic and social class, not nationality. There are Indian bankers who make ten times the salary of a British teacher. Would we call them TCNs? … We fill our heads with ignorant and arrogant labels and fail to see the quality of someone's character. In his famous speech, Martin Luther King Jr. said ‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.’ When we use a phrase like TCN, we judge not character or decency but salary and nationality."

I agree wholeheartedly with one other statement of Etheridge’s: “When we paste on the TCN label, we stop looking at the person standing before us. We stop trying to know them. We think we know them already. But in reality we know nothing. The TCN label erases personality, character, individuality.”

Similarly, I find that in my homeland, the USA, the use of foreigner, Arab, illegal alien, or Muslim are all misusing similar terms to the Kuwaiti TCN, which is being abused and abusive here in the Gulf these days of 2008.

The U.S. presidential election of November 2008 has apparently not enabled Americans and Europeans to get over the racism hidden behind traditional politically-loaded mudslinging terminologies, like TCN.

Neither Kuwaitis, nor ex-patriots in Kuwait, nor Americans should allow racism to be hidden behind euphemism. Therefore, I laud Etheridge for raising the issue in the local press.

ANOTHER EUPHEMISM—AND PET PEEVE--IN KUWAIT

During the rise of the Soviet Union and in the subsequent Cold War era, the term “comrade” was both beloved by some and despised by other. In a religious sense, “comrade” could have been equated with a phrase, like “brother and/or sister in the struggle.” In the communist faith or its international cadre-ship, the word “comrade” was, in fact, used to replace and neutralize class and gender in the fight against both fascism and capitalism.

On the one hand, in military terminology, comrade has often been an acceptable term on various sides in any conflict for centuries.

Meanwhile, the term “comrade” has been used with cynicism and derision by those who have opposed “communist movements,” “revolutionary movements,” “terrorist campaigns,” or even in those anti-progressives in political campaigns, e.g. setting the church against liberal, progressive or even socialist parties.

From socialist and religious Kuwait, there has arisen a similar term. This term is “habibi” or "habibti" (male or female, respectively.)

Muna Al-Fuzai, writing for FRIDAY TIMES, has entitled a piece of hers, “Habibi: Not What it Seems.”

Al-Fuzai starts by noting, “Habibi. Do you know what this word means? It could mean 'darling' or 'my love,' but in fact, it's no longer exclusively used for this meaning. Nowadays, people use the word in their daily communications and discussion, but don't necessarily mean it in the traditional sense. So next time someone uses this word with you, you'll have to think twice about what message he wants to convey to you - and it may not be a very pleasant one.”

The popular columnist, Al-Fuzai, explains that “habibi” and “habibti” are among the most common words used in the local Arabic languages. It could mean things like friend as well as “my loved one.”

Imagine some progressive and conservative Christians facing off and gritting their teeth while calling each other “Brother” or “Sister” in Christ?

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