Does Merit Lie in the Color of Your Skin?

Lubna Hussain
 
I had been recommended to work for a local organization in the capacity of consultant on a high-level assignment. The head hunter was an acquaintance of mine who had been impressed by my qualifications and range of experience. In spite of the fact that the chairman of the group had originally wanted to hire a Westerner, he managed to convince him that being Saudi and having had a Western education, I was a better choice. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this “push” had led to a grudging acceptance of me that would never be converted into any form of lasting recognition.

Excited at the prospect of making my mark on a venture of this nature, I went to great lengths to prove myself and my capabilities. I worked long hours, exhausted all my contacts internationally with frequent requests and strove to ensure that my work would culminate in a truly dynamic and world class endeavor. However, rather than being pleased with my efforts and considerable dedication with regards to the undertaking, I felt that my boss remained unconvinced vis-? -vis my aptitude. I was called to the chairman’s office for a “discussion” and addressed this issue with him directly. He fobbed me off for adopting such a paranoid approach.

“I was just thinking about you in fact,” he began in a conciliatory manner, “and I went over your CV. It was really very good. So much so that I think you may be overqualified for this job. You would be far better off working for our American partners. I am going to suggest that they hire you instead.”

“But I like working here,” I retorted. “I have no problem doing what I am doing!” I protested while entertaining a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I knew that I was about to get the boot because no matter what I did and how good I was, I could never become what he had originally wanted.

Such an attitude has quite an insidious effect. My commitment began to fade and the initial enthusiasm that I displayed diminished to a large degree. I once asked a friend of mine within the same institution half-jokingly and half-seriously: “Do you think they would look upon me more professionally if I sported a golden curly wig on top of my head scarf and a red leather miniskirt over my abaya?” We had both giggled at the mental image this created. Shortly after this, I received a call from our American counterparts requesting me to attend a meeting.

“We think you’re doing a great job,” commented the MD, “but it seems that they want to hire someone else. I would love to recruit you to represent our team, but the management insists that there should be a man in your position.”

I was suitably stunned by this revelation. After a couple of phone calls I was apprised of this fait accompli. There was indeed a flaxen-haired woman who had been appointed as my replacement. It came as no surprise that she didn’t even hold a degree, had been offered double my salary and was allowed to reside in an entirely different country altogether! Gentlemen really do prefer blondes it seems.

I suppose the aspect that upset me the most about this hideous episode is how as a nation we have no confidence in the ability of our own people. We have this innate belief that anyone of Caucasian descent must somehow be superior to us regardless of education, talent or intellect. Even if we possess some of the most brilliant minds in the world, we relegate the task of discovering and nurturing them to other countries. Many people disillusioned with this brand of arrogance and contempt for anything local have left the Kingdom seeking and receiving their due share of glory elsewhere.

I sat next to a Brit on a plane once as I was flying in from the UK. We struck up a cordial conversation and I asked him where he worked.

“I’m head of an electrical engineering department,” he sheepishly replied, evidently embarrassed at the grandiose title of his job.

“That’s really impressive,” I remarked. “Where did you study electrical engineering?” I casually enquired. I was shocked by his follow-up confession.

“You would not believe this. I used to be an electrician in Derby. When I applied for a similar job here, they made me head of the whole department! I told the guys that I wasn’t an engineer and that there were loads of Pakistanis and Indians under me who were more qualified to boot, but they’d have none of that.”

The frequent irony of the whole situation is that it is more often than not the Westerners themselves who are appalled by such behavior. They have a harder time fathoming this unwritten rule than we do. One of them had once asked me if I had been subjected to much racism while I lived in London. My response was, “I never encountered true racism until I arrived back.”

We are the first to vehemently complain while abroad when we feel discriminated against by others on account of the very policy that has become the bedrock of our own employment practices within the Kingdom. What we have to ask ourselves is why is it that the Western world is leaps and bounds ahead of us in all respects? Rather than shunning minorities, citizens in all fields are encouraged to become productive members of society. Such development not only advances and enhances the state of the individual, but also enriches the social order to which they belong. True progress is borne out of meritocracy, not the color of one’s skin, nor the origin of one’s passport.

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(Lubna Hussain is a Saudi writer. She is based in Riyadh.)

Originally published on Arab News and reprinted with permission of the author.