Reflection Essay Assignment Of My Experience in Morocco, Or, Look, My Sociology Minor Is Coming In Handy. Written Fall 2015.
My friend Lindsay and I scoured the blue streets of Chefchaouen, Morocco for souvenirs to buy. We had about one hour left before our call time to meet the rest of our American student group in the main square. With cameras in our hands and Moroccan dirhams in our pockets, we turned the corner on one of the narrow walkways when a man came up to us. “Where are you from? Africa?” he said to Lindsay. She shot me a quick “here we go again” look and responded “No.”
“Caribbean?”
“No.”
“Jamaica?”
“No.”
“America?”
“…yes.”
“Booo. I hate Bush. Obama is okay though.”
The man walked away. My friend Lindsay is black. She had just experienced another instance of stereotyping and assumptions about who she is and where she comes from because of the color of her skin. Together, we ranted about what had just happened. I rolled my eyes and pointed out the annoying fact that neither of us could even vote back then and that this man just slapped a country’s entire messy politics on two American girls in the streets of a very touristy (but beautiful and old) city. We were visiting Morocco for the weekend on trip organized by a travel company tailored to students studying abroad. I felt that the whole experience was rather touristy, but in my opinion it sufficed enough to be a decent introduction to Morocco.
American students with a local guide.
What had just happened was that this man took advantage of knowing that we were foreigners to heckle with us. While we perceive him as rude and know that this kind of confrontation is strongly frowned upon in the United States, to him, it might have been “normal” and even routine to ask foreigners where they are from and express his opinion about them. It also just goes to show what kinds of perceptions international media picks up about the United States and how the people of other countries digest it. My knowledge of the specifics of Bush’s administration is spotty, but perhaps the media in Morocco portrayed him very negatively. In fact, what I do remember from Bush’s administration is that not many people liked him and many people made funny jokes about him and the way he spoke. Now, I wonder—has this man had negative experiences with foreigners before, specifically Americans? Why did he feel the need to pick on us, and why did he feel it necessary specifically to pick on my friend Lindsay? Does this have anything to do with the fact that we were in the continent of Africa?
Thinking about what happened now also makes me wonder at how some Americans may do the same thing to people from other nations. For example, some people may see a woman wearing a hijab and assume that she is Muslim and then assume that she is associated with ISIS. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had gone up to her and said something extremely rude or derogatory because of the way she looked and because of the current politics of the day. I too have experienced many interesting situations because of the way I look. While minding my own business in the Destiny USA mall of Syracuse, New York, a Caucasian man came up to me, bowed, and said “ni hao.” I was so shocked that I made a weird face and then kept walking. I didn’t know how to feel at the time. However, I have also experienced this weird version of another type assumption based on my looks back at home in Los Angeles, California. The area where I live is highly populated by Asian Americans, particularly those of Chinese and Taiwanese descent. Sometimes when I’m walking around shops with my mom (who is Filipino), Chinese or Taiwanese people will speak to us in Chinese, to which we always have to respond “sorry, we don’t speak Chinese.”
The world, as seen from a different angle. (Taken in Assilah, Morocco)
Returning to my experience as the bystander of the situation in Chefchaouen, I realize that this sort of thing happens all the time to different types of people depending on what they look like, where they are, and how they act. I’ve tried to think of the many reactions I could have had to this exchange or if there was anything I could have done, but unless this man was willing to listen to what we had to say, the thought is futile. He may never understand the vastness of diversity that exists in the United States and the incredibly complex ideas of identity and nationality, and I may never understand what it is like to live in a city bombarded by tourists from wealthier countries every single day. I may not experience the types of experiences that Lindsay experiences based on the way she looks, but I can empathize with her and do my part to reduce this sort of negative interaction by prompting people to think twice about what they say and what they imply. These types of experiences happen all the time and they are not something that I can escape when leaving the US; it’s part of my very existence in this world and something I’ll have to deal with for as long as I’m alive. Rather than thinking of this as an arduous task, in the future, I hope that I can utilize my ability to reflect on it and share my experience as a way to influence people’s minds. It’s not always comfortable to deal with, but I think adding a little more empathy and willingness to understand others in the world never hurt anyone. The effort is worth it.