Saturday, January 28, 2012

Uncooked

The melting pot, that's a term often used to refer to the culture of the United States. Even if you don't know the history of the US, you still know how diversely multicultural the country is. There is no real understanding to who is considered to be "American." Let's forget about all the wars and past conflicts and take a look at the broad picture in this present day.
You could look Indian, African, European or Arab and still be an American for many different reasons. Now let's go to the opposite side of the world into a very small country that is barely the size of one of the smallest states in the US, Qatar. Much like the US, Qatar has a variety of different cultures and ethnic groups, however, they are very segregated and it’s more obvious which group every individual belongs to. Furthermore, there’s no linkage (aka: a passport) that brings them together. Qatar is populated with Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, Iranians and other ethnic groups.

With the majority being non-Qataris, which raises the question: who are Qataris? What makes them Qatari? Unlike the US, being born in Qatar does not make you Qatari. Living in Qatar for more than 20 years or so, still doesn't make you Qatari. Some people were born, raised and brought up into the Qatari society, they might look and dress like Qataris, and considered to be socialized into this culture, but are not considered Qatari by any law. Qatar has grown a lot in the past few of years; it welcomed the film, the sport and the education industry. Naturally that brought in a lot of immigrants from all around the world, who till this day are still considered to be guests and residents in Qatar, but not citizens of the country.