While there are extreme forms of racial discrimination such as the genocides committed by the Nazis against Jews and segregation between whites and “niggers” in American history, there are less severe discriminatory acts that occur regularly but they are denied and not exposed. Perhaps the perfect example of this is the dehumanizing racial discrimination that occurs daily in Egypt. The concepts of colorblind racism and modern racism must first be explained and emphasized to understand the nature of racism in Egypt. Color blindness is an ideology that promotes racial and ethnic equality*. While this may seem like a reasonable dogma, it often stems from a denial of the existence of racial prejudice in the first place. This type of denial is at the heart of Egyptian culture and phrases like “We're not like the Nazis” and “What? Racism in Egypt? You're crazy! are phrases commonly repeated when discussing the issue. Indeed, most Egyptians perceive the idea of racism in their country as an insult to their hospitality and integrity, and will continue to defend themselves wholeheartedly against such an absurd accusation. Unfortunately, such defiance of reality paves the way for further acts of inequality to occur. What further increases these rates of inequality is modern racism, the staging of behaviors without prejudice while internally harboring discriminatory attitudes*. Instead of denying the existence of racism, modern racists know very well that they are racist, but they take extreme measures to keep their beliefs latent. Even if they do so out of fear of being labeled by society, they unconsciously continue to act on their beliefs. Similar to color blindness, modern racism is also a recurring element of paper identity. The government's enormous efforts to promote sedentary living reflect the common prejudice that nomads represent an extremely distant deterioration from modern life. Officials' advocacy against racial discrimination made the spread of racism inevitable. As a result, when the Bedouins, especially the Awlad Ali tribe, visit Cairo and other cities, they describe the Egyptians as an inhospitable and useless people*. Although I was initially shocked by their statements, I realized that “hospitality” is such a relative term, because in the presence of racial discrimination, how on earth would these Bedouins see the hospitable side of the Egyptians! Furthermore, such an outwardly biased system will undoubtedly favor the formation of stereotypes towards "inferior" groups and will help create a correlation between stereotyped traits and life opportunities..
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