Rebecca Mallinson reflects on the nature of prejudice
Pride and Prejudice in Sudan
by Rebecca Mallinson
I am going to write about prejudices, misunderstandings and barriers which I witnessed in Sudan, both white, Arab and black.
Scene 1: One day in Khartoum, I was walking in the street with a new volunteer, also from England. I had been telling her that in Sudan, many people would want to stop and talk. It is a very friendly country and this is normal here. As we walked along, this is exactly what happened. People said ‘welcome’, ‘where are you from?’, ‘what is your name?’ etc. My colleague immediately got her sunglasses out and put them on, commenting that that was what she did to avoid beggars looking her in the eye. I tried to explain to her that these people were not after her money, they were just trying to be friendly and seizing a chance to practise their English. In any case, there are very few beggars as families are very supportive here. Even those who do need to beg do not hustle in the same way as in some poor countries. Needless to say, this volunteer did not settle in well and did not stay for her full time in Sudan.
Scene 2: Visiting a village in the north with a Sudanese teacher I was in for some shocks. The teacher comes from a very affluent Islamic family who own a large amount of farmland next to the Nile. We stayed with cousins, who had a live-in servant. They told me that the servant had never been to school and they laughed at the servant’s ignorant questions about me. In the evening three desperately thin and frail looking black women and a young boy came into the courtyard, smiling and shaking hands. They sat with us for a while before going back to a different wing of the building to sleep. My friend explained that they were South Sudanese from the ghetto for South Sudanese on the outskirts of Atbara. Her cousin had been to the ghetto to find workers for harvesting and brought them back with him. She made a comment about needing help to do the work because of ill health, which I completely misunderstood as I was following my own line of thought. I replied, ‘Yes, they do look far too frail for such tough work and the boy should be in school.’ My friend said, ‘No, I meant my cousins need help.’ The cousins are obscenely obese middle aged women, who sit at home all day being waited on by their ‘ignorant’ servant and never take any exercise or look after their health in any way. The next day we were visited by another black woman. After she had left, my friend explained that she was a member of her own tribe, as she was a descendant of her great-grandfather who had taken a wife from Darfur. She told me very firmly that her branch of family did not marry relatives from that side of the family as they are black. I commented that this sounded very racist. My friend challenged me saying, ‘would you marry a black person?’ I said that to me skin colour is not the important issue, it is whether we were compatible in character. I was totally scandalised by this visit, which came after a period of several months in which I had got on very well with this teacher but never touched on this type of topic.
Scene 3: In various conversations with members of my local parish I have come across very definite attitudes that men who wear turbans and beards and women who cover their faces completely are the worst type of Arab, who really hate the South Sudanese Christians. However I have a friend, a devout Muslim, who covers her face in public. She explained to me that she did it to avoid unwanted male sexual attentions. Even though she is a woman in her late 40s, she gets harassed badly (as do the younger women volunteers for my charity). She finds that covering herself completely is the only way to avoid this. Her husband wears a turban. Both are members of a local Islamic charity which is passionate about helping the poor regardless of skin colour or religious beliefs. One day I invited a Nuban Christian family to lunch and also invited this woman. The father of the Nuban family was among those who have this erroneous perception about Islamic women’s facial covering. Everyone got on very well throughout the visit and exchanged phone numbers to keep in contact. As she was about to leave, my Islamic friend covered her face ready to leave the house. My Nuban friend was completely shocked and stunned. My Islamic friend explained her reasons. Thank God for one broken barrier.
Scene 4: One of the catechists in my parish asked me about where I was living. I told him that I shared accommodation with another volunteer in a small town nearby. We were the only westerners in the town. He asked who cooked, cleaned and shopped for us. I told him that we did everything ourselves. This was a cause of great astonishment to him. He was also amazed that we used normal public transport, not a car. This is an intelligent man who has taught himself to speak excellent English at home using a textbook, an amazing feat in my opinion. I was the first white person he had interacted with and he was full of misconceptions based on a belief that all white people are fabulously rich, but also not fully human. Based on various things which came up in our conversations, it was clear that he didn’t realise that white people are capable of the same emotions and feelings as Africans.
Scene 5: My parish priest and I were talking one day. He commented to me that I was a most unusual white person. He said that in his experience when white people attended church they sat right at the back and if people tried to speak to them, they shied away. He said they made it impossible for anyone to get close to them. I, on the other hand, sat near the front and asked how I could help the parish the very first time I attended Mass. I feel ashamed for my fellow westerners. I don’t understand why, particularly those Christians who come to Sudan as volunteers like myself, or are long term residents, aren’t willing to behave as part of their Christian community locally.
I could only reply that I couldn’t answer for people I didn’t know, but that I was always taught that as Christians and Catholics we are all brothers and sisters in baptism whatever country we come from. We are therefore part of the same family and should support each other. I have also found from my own experience that when you move to a new area, if you participate in your local parish, you will settle in much better.
Scene 6: The archdiocese in Khartoum is very poor and Sudan is very large with un-metalled roads in many places. They are in need of a four wheel drive vehicle so that the Vicar General can travel to all 22 parishes in the diocese biannually. Currently he shares a vehicle with the Justice and Peace group, so it is often not available. He asked me for help (again the idea that all white people are rich!). As I am not a rich person, this was not possible for me. However, I remembered that I had met a Northern Irish woman who attends Mass at the cathedral every Sunday. She is married to a millionaire Sudanese businessman. They have servants and a beautiful house with a swimming pool. She takes part in charity fundraising in Khartoum along with various other resident westerners. It seemed obvious that she would be a good person to ask. I phoned her and told her about the need for a vehicle. I asked if she would be willing to fundraise for this. After a stunned silence she said she ‘would think about it’. I said that I would be leaving the country at 6.30am the next day, so would really like to know the same day if possible. When she didn’t return my call, I texted her the Vicar General’s number. She did not call me or the Vicar General. This woman has lived in Khartoum for many years and attended Mass regularly but still didn’t know the names of the priests at the Cathedral. The Vicar General did not know her either. Instead I have suggested to him that the Cathedral makes an appeal for a fundraising committee at the English language Masses in the hope that people might come forward.
The church in Sudan is under ever worsening attack by the Islamic government and is in serious need of help. It seems to me that parishioners such as this lady could easily to be supportive. She has a very powerful husband who the government would not want to antagonise. Perhaps she is scared even so, or perhaps she is too cocooned in her luxury lifestyle to be aware of what is going on or to care very much. Whatever her reasons, they don’t seem very Christian to me.
The Cardinal of the Archdiocese is very keen for his priests to attempt to break barriers and aim for peace and reconciliation with the local Islamic community. They find this very difficult due to the massive barriers and prejudices on both sides. I pray that my observations will make some contribution to making this easier.
