I was quietly sipping my cappuccino this week in a London coffee shop, listening to an unashamed case of racism among those who complain of racism. Two fashionably dressed Asian Muslim women were in discussion about the younger of the two being pregnant. The other was not much older but clearly cast into the “auntie” role.
The pregnant woman was chided by the auntie for drinking coffee while pregnant. “I only drink a cup a day, which research says is fine,” said the pregnant woman assuming the critique was about the health effects of caffeine.
The auntie was not concerned about the child’s health but that the child was the “right” colour. “If you drink coffee, the baby will be brown coloured.”
The pregnant woman chose a moral angle to try to expose the discrimination. As they were both Muslim, she sought support from the Quranic texts, which are taken as inarguable.
She recounted that according to Quranic history, it was likely that most of the Prophets chosen by God were from the Middle East where people aren’t white but rather of varying shades of light to dark brown.
According to Islamic teachings, these were the best of human beings and the best of God’s creatures. As mothers, said the pregnant woman, we wish our children to be good people, like the greats before them.
The auntie, undeterred and seeing nothing wrong in her viewpoint, reiterated that the baby ought to be white. The pregnant woman simply said: “Don’t we want this child to be amazing like the great people before who were brown?”
“No, the baby should be white, not brown like the Prophets.” The auntie herself was Asian and brown.
Women – especially mothers – play a crucial role in perpetuating racism and colour prejudice against other women. The argument that a parent can have a preference about their child’s looks is blind to the fact that today in many cultures, how white a girl is – and it is almost always girls who suffer from colour prejudice – affects the chances she will have in life. White is considered beautiful and praised, whiter skinned girls get better clothes, better jobs and better marriage prospects.
Despite apologists trying to liken this to the trend of tanning, this is absolutely not the same. Tanned people are not considered to be better people, more talented, more competent, more worthy of resources, praise, opportunities. In some languages darker skin is even referred to as “dirty” or “unclean” and said directly to children. It’s considered quite acceptable to openly prefer whiter skin to darker skin. For those who themselves are from communities that complain of racism, such behaviour makes me sick.
It’s heartbreaking that it is mothers who perpetuate this prejudice, the very women in whose hands lies the treatment of our future generations, and in particular the role models for young girls.
The argument that white is naturally more appealing – and the entirely prejudiced follow on from such women that its natural to give preference to whiter skinned people – fails to understand that beauty and colour are not synonymous.
In making this monumental mistake, we are binding women into a trap of being discriminated against not just for their colour, which is a prejudice we should have grown out of by now as a human race. It continues to judge women only by how they look. And white or dark, this is a prejudice no woman should tolerate.
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and blogs at www.spirit21.co.uk
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE (+4 GMT)
Brackets denote aggregate score
Tuesday:
Roma (1) v Shakhtar Donetsk (2), 11.45pm
Manchester United (0) v Sevilla (0), 11.45pm
Wednesday:
Besiktas (0) v Bayern Munich (5), 9pm
Barcelona (1) v Chelsea (1), 11.45pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Genesis G80 2020 5.0-litre Royal Specs
Engine: 5-litre V8
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 505Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L/100km
Price: Dh260,500
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
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Source: Emirates
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
The specs
Powertrain: Single electric motor
Power: 201hp
Torque: 310Nm
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Battery: 53kWh lithium-ion battery pack (GS base model); 70kWh battery pack (GF)
Touring range: 350km (GS); 480km (GF)
Price: From Dh129,900 (GS); Dh149,000 (GF)
On sale: Now
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
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Eibar 1 (Bigas 60')
F1 2020 calendar
March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.
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Director: Michael Sarnoski
Rating: 4/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
The specs
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From: Wimbledon, London, UK
Education: Medical doctor
Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures
Favourite animals: All of them
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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8. Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
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