In his new book Inside Qatar, the anthropologist John McManus gets a Nepali barista in Doha to explain the Gulf state’s hierarchy. “Who’s at the top?” asks the author. “Of course, the Qatari,” replies the barista. “Second, European countries and the US. Third, other Arab countries and nationalities.” And at the bottom? “Always Nepal, India, Sri Lanka.” As McManus suggests, that may be missing a layer: “All security guards are black Africans.”
人類學家約翰•麥克馬納斯(John McManus)在他的新書《走進卡達》(Inside Qatar)中,請了一位在杜哈(Doha)的尼泊爾籍咖啡師解釋這個海灣國家的等級制度。作者問道:「誰地位最高?」咖啡師回答:「當然是卡達人。第二高的是歐洲人和美國人。第三高的是其他阿拉伯國家和民族的人。」那最底層的呢?「一直都是尼泊爾人、印度人和斯里蘭卡人。」正如麥克馬納斯所指出的,這個咖啡師的回答可能遺漏了一個層面:「所有的保安都是非洲黑人。」